


My colourless life with your colours

by Abeehiltz



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Don't copy to another site, Drinking, F/F, Minor Character Death, NaNoWriMo, Slow Burn, Smoking, Useless Lesbians, non canon band, sibling angst, spicy last chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:13:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 50,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22099252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abeehiltz/pseuds/Abeehiltz
Summary: Hikawa Sayo lost all her family after a car accident. After that, everything couldn't have been worse for her... She barely managed to graduate from high school. She then moved alone and cut all ties with her remaining family. But she never went to university. Her whole life was empty, until she met her...
Relationships: Hazawa Tsugumi/Hikawa Sayo, Imai Lisa/Minato Yukina, Shirokane Rinko/Udagawa Ako
Comments: 9
Kudos: 164





	1. A ray of colour

**Author's Note:**

> I know Nanowrimo is far away already, but I had to read and correct some part of that fic before finally starting to post it!!! I'm so proud I was able to write those 50,000 words in a month, and I really hope you will love this story! I will try to upload one chapter per week <3 have some fun!
> 
> I'd like to thank Trilink, (you can found her here https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trilinklover/pseuds/Trilinklover ) who helped me a lot with correcting some mistakes and rephrasing some part of my work!! She's incredible! Please follow her work!

“…-chan…” Did she heard something?

“O…-chan…” It’s becoming less distant.

“Onee-chan!”

Sayo suddenly opened her eyes, recognizing Hina’s voice . She was shocked. The last thing she remembered, she was lying on her bed, unable to bring herself to do anything after working at her part time job. So, why was she suddenly with Hina and her parents? She was in a car, sitting behind the driver’s seat where her father was seated. Next to her, Hina was wriggling around, not able to stay focused on one thing for more than a second. She was looking through the window, then trying to talk to her parents, and now she was trying to talk to Sayo. Still under the shock of the situation she was in, the teal-haired girl took some seconds to answer.

“Y-Yes?”

“Onee-chan you should stay focused!! Are you daydreaming about something?”

Sayo couldn’t help but sigh and pinch the bridge of her nose. Hina was annoying her again for useless things. She suddenly forgot that waking up in a car with her family was weird. She thought earlier it was a dream or something, but her mind put this idea aside without noticing, maybe because of Hina’s pestering. 

“I’m not. I just want a break to rest.” She almost wanted to push Hina away, but she couldn’t be that mean to her own sister. Even with how annoying she was to her, she was still her sister. After saying that she closes her eyes again, and rests her head against the door, ignoring Hina’s voice for a moment to rest. She felt tired. Her family won four tickets for a weekend at the hot spring inn, but she didn’t really want to go. It was painful for her to be around Hina. She didn’t hate her sister, but it was uncomfortable to see someone succeeding in everything they do the first time. No matter how much effort she put into something, Hina would be able to do even better at the first try. That’s why Sayo chose to play the guitar, the only thing Hina wasn’t doing. She practiced alone in her room, not showing it to her twin sister. At least it was like that at first. Lately, she had started to enjoy playing the guitar for herself, to the point of even practicing singing. It was only a little, but she found a reason to continue onwards with music other than beating her sister, and she wanted to devote herself to that.

After thinking to herself for a moment, Sayo opened her eyes again, but what awaited her eyes was the face of her parents and sister in a confusing state. It was as if someone daubed their face with a marker. Under the pen strokes, their faces were blurry. She could feel goosebumps on her body just by looking at them. Something was wrong, and inside she knew it wasn’t normal, but her mind was making her believe that everything was as it should for some odd reasons. She was about to ask what was happening, but Hina talked first.

“Did you enjoy killing us that day?”

“…!” Sayo felt suddenly sick, pictures coming into her mind again. She wanted to throw up, but her body didn’t want that. The car upside down, blood around her parents and sister’s bodies, the corpses of her parents, she started to tremble at the thought of those things, while Hina’s voice kept bringing her deeper into despair.

“Everything was because of you. I shouldn’t have protected you. You are the worst big sister.”

Sayo tried to prevent herself from trembling, but it was too hard. She looked through the window, anything to keep her mind on something else. But for a reason, the window didn’t show anything outside, she was only met with her reflection, not able to look away from the horrible view of herself. Hina was behind her, she could feel it. She could also see her sister’s reflection. Her head was bleeding, like in her memory. But it wasn’t her memory, her sister was smiling this time, her usual smile. She seemed happy, yet her voice and tone told her the contrary. It was a cold tone, a blaming voice. Colder than ice, sharper than a knife, and it was hitting her back again and again.

“Why didn’t you stay at home quietly? Why did you let yourself involved in that?”

_‘It- It’s wrong, father forced-’_ Sayo tried to say, but it was stuck in her throat, the fear overtaking her voice. Yet, Hina still talked as if she heard her sister.

“Then, why did you take this long to accept? If you were faster to say yes, we wouldn’t have gone through that.”

_‘It’s wrong… Everything is wrong, I didn’t mean to, I didn’t want to-’_

Suddenly, everything went back to normal. Her parents were talking together happily again, her sister was wasting her breath chattering. She sighed from relief, and finally smiled. Her family was alive. They weren’t dead. She was still with her family. She breathed a little to calm herself, before finally looking through a real window again. Even though Hina was talking to herself mostly, Sayo continued to listen. She didn’t want the images she had in her mind to be real, they weren’t real. This was real… Hina talking, her parents chatting and joking, and her just listening to them. She was happy to have a great family like that, even if she never showed it. The weather outside seemed beautiful too, the truck also looked beautiful…

The truck… It started to come closer and closer from the car, not seeming to slow down even though their traffic light should be red. Again, Sayo’s heartbeat quickened, and she felt sick. It couldn’t be right, the truck was going to slow down soon, she was sure of it. Her images couldn’t be right.

She blinked, and with the short time it took her to do so, the truck was already in front of her father’s car door. The last thing she saw was Hina jumping in front of her and hugging her, before she heard a loud noise. She felt her body be shaken violently, before hitting her head on something and passing out from that.

* * *

Sayo woke up suddenly and raised abruptly, sitting up on her bed. She was breathless and panting loudly. She desperately needed to gain control of her breathing. She also looked around her room quickly, trying to persuade her brain that she wasn’t in that car anymore. ‘I’m fine, nobody is dead again…’ she tried. Yet, she knew it couldn’t really help. She was used to those sort of nightmares that seemed far more real than a simple dream, those things haunted her since that day, 5 years ago.

That day, she lost her parents in a car accident. Like in her dream, they were heading to a hot spring inn for the weekend, before a truck crashed into their car on the way. Since the truck crashed into the front of the car, Hina and her didn’t die. However, she was the only one to get away miraculously without any severe injuries, only some scratches. Only she knew why. Her twin sister, Hina, jumped to protect her at the last moment, and she still felt guilty about that. Hina had a severe injury to her head, and was in a coma for some time. Sayo didn’t really know for how long as she cut all the ties with her family since that day. Her nightmares were horrible, but they weren’t wrong. She was the one to blame for that… That’s why she decided to separate herself from her family, living alone in another town, changing her phone number, she didn’t even give her address to anyone. And she was fine with this situation. She could see Hina on the television from time to time, she seemed to be in a popular idol band, and Sayo was fine with just knowing her sister was happy without her. Sayo didn’t deserve to be around her sister anymore, not after what she did to her… And without her sister around, she didn’t have to play the guitar anymore. Hina could do whatever she wanted, she could achieve whatever she wanted, and Sayo wasn’t annoyed by that anymore. After all, she was a failure. She didn’t even have the motivation to play it again. Albeit for some reasons, she couldn’t sell it. Each time she tried to sell it, she felt sick and couldn’t leave the house… She still didn’t know why.

Thinking about all of that calmed the teal-haired girl. She was brought back to reality by those bad thoughts. And now that she was calmed from her nightmare, she could feel something else coming. Without warning and against her will, the pictures of her parents and sister after the accident came back in her mind, and soon after that, she felt something from her stomach with her mouth also producing more saliva. With just those hints, she knew it was coming. She rushed into her bathroom, and, as soon as she reached the toilet, her stomach constricted, and she threw up. She barely moved her hair behind her before the water in the toilet was mixed with that mixture. It felt as if she was burning her throat and mouth with acid, but she couldn’t stop it. She could only throw up, and cough heavily to empty everything. Some tears rolled down her cheeks from the pain, but she ignored them. Fortunately, after several minutes, when she was empty, it stopped.

Sayo rested her back against the wall near the toilet, panting heavily to catch her breath. She felt so weak after that, she didn’t want to move. Actually, the floor seemed cold, so she laid there and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to move for now, just breathing slowly to calm herself, and ease the pain. However, the taste in her mouth was gross, so she got up to rinse her mouth when she felt better. She hated this feeling, yet, in five years, she couldn’t find a solution. She gave up on finding one, maybe that was what she deserved after what happened. She just stared at herself in the mirror. She looked horrible: messy hair, hooded sweatshirt moist with how much she sweated in her nightmare, pale face, a huge mess.

“You look like a zombie Sayo… and you fell asleep without changing into your pyjamas… You’re pathetic you know?”

She talked to herself while forcing a smile. Maybe she looked crazy, but it actually helped her to manage her thoughts and plan what she needed to do. And first, she needed a good shower.

Sayo took her hooded sweatshirt off, as well as everything else she was wearing, before stepping into the shower. Most of the place in Japan had the traditional bathroom with a bathtub, but Sayo was fine with just a shower. The place was cheaper, she couldn’t say no to that, especially when she could only survive with a part-time job.

The warm water on her skin felt good, her muscles relaxed after this little adventure, and she felt cleaner too. It also relaxed her mind. Without moving that much, she stayed under the water, not even noticing the minutes passing. It just felt great. Soon enough, her mind quickly reminded her of the water bill, and with that, she washed her hair and body, not wasting any more time, before stepping out of the shower and drying herself. She loved showers, but drying her long hair was painful, especially since her hairdryer broke. She could buy a new one with all the money she saved up, but she didn’t want to use it yet. It could be useful if something bad happened and she needed money.

After being done with washing herself, she checked the clock on her wall when she entered the main room again. It was 9pm.

“I really slept all day… Well, I don’t have to work at my part-time job this week so it’s fine.”

Not minding more than that the hour, Sayo put casual clothes on: a white blouse and jeans. It was her usual outfit when she needed to go outside, which she planned to do a bit later. For now, she prepared a black coffee and a slice of bread she was lazy to toast. She ate the bread covered with some strawberry jam while waiting for her coffee to be prepared. When it was done, she sat at her table. But she noticed something, a pile of paper.

“Oh… it’s that time of the year again.”

On the table was an application file for a school. The school she planned to go before the accident. Sayo was used to printing it every year, but never found the strength to fill it. This year again, it was printed, on her table. The deadline was next week, but she still hadn’t found the will to do anything with the file.

“… I won’t fill it again I suppose. But nevermind that. For now, I think I’ll hang out at Imai-san’s place. I don’t really have the head to think about that today.”

Imai Lisa, she was Sayo’s only friend, if she could call her a friend. She hung out at Lisa’s bar often, to the point of being a regular there. The place was peaceful for a bar, so she liked going there. The owner was also really nice, and they always ended up talking together until the place closed. She never got the opportunity to talk to Lisa other than at this place, but she didn’t mind, Lisa’s bar was nice enough to talk.

After finishing her coffee, Sayo put the cup in the sink. She planned to wash it later. She really needed to leave her place for some hours and hear people, even if she didn’t plan to talk to them. She took her coat and put it on, before taking a cigarette pack from her coat’s pocket. She took one cigarette, and put it in her mouth, lighting it up. She knew she was addicted to that, but it helped her to cope with all those feelings, especially after a nightmare. Her cigarette between her lips, Sayo finally leaves her place, heading to Lisa’s bar that wasn’t too far from where she lives.

Sayo walked outside, alone. She moved around the town without wasting time. She knew the way after going there frequently after all. On her way, she finished her cigarette and held it until she found a bin. She hated people who threw the cigarette end on the ground, so she wasn’t going to be like them in the near future.

Soon, she finally saw her destination. Above the front door was written ‘L’argentée’ on a sign. Sayo didn’t care much about the origin of the name, but she heard it was related to Lisa’s wife, Minato Yukina. Yukina was a very good singer. She was making money by doing solo lives around the live house and other places in the town. Sayo had met her from time to time when Lisa needed some help at the bar. She wondered if the singer would be here today. With that thought, she opened the door and entered.

“Good mor- evening.”

She blushed when she noticed her mistake. Even with the night outside, she completely forgot it was evening. ‘I really need to get a better sleep schedule.’ Without embarrassing herself more, she went to a free bar stool and sat down. She enjoyed those seats more than the ones at the tables in the room. She could talk with the bartender easier this way. It was one of the reasons why she came here, she could talk to someone. However, when she looked around, she saw nobody doing the service. Though she could hear something coming from the kitchen behind the wall.

“Maybe she’s busy…”

While she was waiting for someone to come, she took her smartphone from her pocket and checked the notifications. She didn’t look at it at all since she woke up. At least, having a lonely life, she didn’t get too many notifications. Just some missed calls from her manager or mail. The usual stuff for her. As she was reading one email, she noticed someone arrived behind the counter. But before raising her head, she finished her mail and talked at the same time.

“Imai-san, can I have the usua-”

She raised her head when she spoke the end of her sentence, and stopped talking when she noticed it wasn’t Lisa at all. In front of her, a girl with long brown hair, as well as brown eyes, was standing. She was wearing a classic bartender outfit, but it suited her perfectly. Sayo could feel her heart skipping a beat for the first time in her life, as well as a little tightening feeling around it. When her eyes met hers, Sayo could finally see colours in her life after ages. The girl was so stunning, she couldn’t even look away. She was fascinated to say the least. She admitted in the past that Lisa was gorgeous. But this girl in front of her, she could swear she was the definition of Goddess in a dictionary.

“Good evening, what is your order miss?”

“You.”

Sayo answered without even thinking, still lost in the girl’s eyes. But after a mere second, she finally understood what she just said, and flushed furiously while looking away. ‘Sayo what are you doing?! Why are you suddenly acting like this?! Pull yourself together!’. Before the girl could say anything or react, she spoke again, her tone a bit louder from the embarrassment. She did her best to keep her composure, but it wasn’t really successful.

“I mean-! A piano woman please.”

“…A-Alright!” The bartender blushed after what just happened. It was really something, and her pulse was suddenly racing. She did her best to keep her composure during her work, but she never expected that from a beautiful woman like her customer.

Sayo felt her cheeks becoming warmer, even though she hadn’t drunk anything yet. And when she looked back at the woman, she noticed her cheeks were red. She wasn’t sure how to react to that, but she cracked a smile unconsciously. The brunette really was cute. But more than that, she seemed to have the spark in her eyes that Sayo lost years ago. She couldn’t explain how or why she could feel that, but she could.

The brunette moved around to prepare the drink. She looked really determined, and also very professional. ‘Is she used to doing that? I’ve never seen her here before though, maybe she works at another bar?’ Sayo thought. But this determined look was truly fascinating. Soon after, the drink was served to Sayo with a bright smile on the brunette’s face.

“A piano woman for you Miss, I hope it will suit your taste!” The brunette said with an enthusiastic voice.

“Sayo. You can call me Sayo.” She answered, before taking the glass in her right hand and sipping the drink. It tasted really nice. She actually never tasted this drink before, but went for it on the moment. Maybe because she remembered the previous name of the drink, pretty woman, and that the woman in front of her was pretty… After the sip, she put it back on the table.

“Alright… Sayo…-san then! I’m Hazawa Tsugumi, nice to meet you!” Tsugumi was really happy to get the girl’s name for unknown reasons. ‘Sayo… It’s a beautiful name…’ She kept that in her mind while looking at the girl.

Tsugumi’s smile was bright when she said that. Sayo felt like she lost her sight for a second. But she was glad the girl didn’t ask about her last name. She always felt a bit uncomfortable with it lately, since it reminded herself of her family. She cracked another smile before answering.

“Nice to meet you Hazawa-san. Are you new here? I’ve never seen you around.”

Sayo took another sip of her beverage. It really was delicious, so much that she almost wanted to gulp it down. At least she was able to restrain herself this time, unlike those few times when she ended up totally drunk in front of Lisa after gulping down some glasses of strong alcohol. Tsugumi meanwhile, seemed to have brought a seat to be in front of Sayo. For now, she was the only customer. This wasn’t odd for this bar considering how late it was and how it’s in the middle of the week.

“Not at all, I’m not working here actually. Lisa-senpai just asked me to replace her today for some reason hehe~ I couldn’t refuse. Do you often come here Sayo-san?”

Tsugumi seemed the type of girl to be cheerful. Sayo usually didn’t really like those type of girls. Maybe because of how Hina was. Albeit Hina’s personality was much more cheerful than Tsugumi. But right now, she didn’t know why she felt comfortable around the brunette. She was really kind, and seemed really easy to talk to. She really needed it after what happened earlier. She wasn’t talking to Lisa and getting drunk like she planned earlier, but it was better like this.

“Yes. Whenever I feel lonely or I have the need to talk to someone - which happens a lot - I come here…”

Sayo’s voice trailed off. She just revealed too much of her condition to a complete stranger. She shouldn’t bother Tsugumi more. She drank more of her cocktail while looking at the brunette. Tsugumi seemed to be concerned about Sayo, which surprised the teal-haired girl. They were complete stranger. She thought she was just mistaking things and tried to forget that concerned look.

“I…” Tsugumi was actually having trouble to speak her mind. She felt warm around this strange girl for a reason, but she thought it was just because she wanted to help her. Yet, she didn’t really know how she could help. Although she improved significantly since high school, Tsugumi wasn’t really good to talk to strangers. However, for an unknown reason, she really wanted to help the girl. She was a friend of Lisa, so she couldn’t let her feel bad like that. And Sayo’s look didn’t help to make Tsugu less worried, she still looked like a zombie. Tsugumi was determined to help Sayo.

“Then, I can be here for you for the night! I’m not Lisa-senpai and I don’t know if I can be useful, I’m just a plain girl after all. But! I want to help you Sayo-san! So if you need to talk about anything, don’t hesitate!”

Sayo opened her eyes wider from the shock. She never thought someone would want to help her lost cause this much. That was surprising. She couldn’t help but giggle at that. It was almost a new feeling, she didn’t remember the last time she smiled, or giggled. All those new things, thanks to a stranger girl she just met. She already felt better than she ever felt in years.

“Thank you Hazawa-san. It means a lot. So…” Could she really tell her story to a stranger? Sayo felt like it was alright, but she still wasn’t totally sure… She thought about it for a second, and decided to stay vague. “If you don’t mind listening to my issues. I came here to say that to Imai-san after all.”

“Hehe I don’t mind at all~! And we’re the only one here for now!” Tsugumi answered, still smiling warmly. This smile appeased Sayo’s heart entirely.

“Then… I… for some personal reasons, I never went to college. It’s been five years since I finished high school, and I just worked at part-time jobs I found all this time. However… I’m always wondering if it’s fine to stay like this. But I don’t know. I… I’m pathetic after all, do I deserve to be happy in my life…?”

Sayo started to feel horrible. and she was about to think about the accident again, but her mind was cut off by something. Her left hand was resting on the counter, and she felt something warm on it. Tsugumi put her hand above Sayo’s. It was only a small gesture, but it meant a lot for Sayo. All her bad feelings disappeared. She didn’t feel lonely anymore. She wasn’t alone. She was with a stranger, which wasn’t the best, but it was still better than alone for her. Especially with someone like Tsugumi. And Tsugumi’s voice was also warming her.

“Sayo-san. I don’t know what happened. But I’m sure about one thing: you look better when you’re smiling! You’re not pathetic at all!” Tsugumi wanted to do her best to comfort her new friend. She could feel the girl went through a lot, even if she didn’t know the details. But even without details, she didn’t want to leave the girl alone. She wanted to see her smile again, the genuine smile she saw earlier.

“S-Smiling?” Sayo was taken aback by Tsugumi’s words again, and she flushed. Why was the brunette talking about that so suddenly? She didn’t even know how to answer that. “I- I’m not smiling.”

“Eeeh? You were smiling earlier! When I took your order! You should admit it~!” Tsugumi said, noticing Sayo’s red cheeks, and grinned even more.

“Impossible Hazawa-san. I know I’m never smiling.” Sayo was doing her best to hide her blushing face, taking another sip of her drink. But it didn’t really work.

“Is that a challenge? Alright I will do my best then!!” Tsugumi stated, determined. But her smile was still there.

“As you wish, but I won’t lose.” Sayo was also determined not to lose this game that suddenly started… However, when the two girls stared at each other for some seconds, Tsugumi started to laugh. And of course, Sayo followed. She never expected the situation to be a game suddenly, especially on her smile. It was too much for her, and with Tsugumi already laughing, she couldn’t hold her laugh. The two girls were having fun laughing alone in the bar.

However, the door of the bar opened soon after.

Sayo jumped on her chair when she heard the door opening, and Tsugumi did the same. They both stopped laughing, and blushed heavily when they noticed who entered. They were glad it wasn’t a random customer, but Lisa. The new girl looked at those two, an eyebrow raised.

“Hey Sayo, and Tsugumi. Something happen? You two are red~ Don’t tell me…” Lisa smirked, she didn’t know what happened at all, but teasing Sayo was something she liked to do. The teal-haired girl always looked more relaxed and herself in those situations.

Sayo actually didn’t know how to react at all, she looked at Tsugumi, and then at Lisa, before she took her glass and drank the beverage in one go. She needed to calm her blush now. However, the remainder of her beverage wasn’t enough. She raised her glass toward Tsugumi. She really needed, and wanted a refill of this sweet drink. It was actually more addicting than the other coktails she tasted before. And it might also calm the bartender who was showing everything on her face.

“Hazawa-san, could you serve me again?”

“E-Eh? Oh of course! A piano woman then!” As she tried to regain her composure, Tsugumi took the glass from Sayo’s hand. However, her face flushed an even deeper red as her fingers grazed those of the teal-haired woman she was meant to be retrieving the refill for. She turned around to hide that and to calm herself while working on the cocktail. She can’t let herself be like that during work.

In the meantime, Lisa walked inside and sat next to Sayo with a mischievous grin. Sayo couldn’t help but feel like something was going to happen really soon… And she was right.

“Piano woman hmm~? I know what was the previous name of the drink you know?”

“Oh really? Do you mind sharing your knowledge then? Because I don’t.” It was a lie of course, but Sayo didn’t want to get teased more. She wasn’t going to be teased in front of Tsugumi. It was weird though, she never thought about those things before. She just let Lisa tease her, without even caring. But now, she was caring. Since when…

“I will let you look online later then~” Lisa answered after she noticed how Tsugu was red. She didn’t want to make it worse, because she knew it would. Instead, she also ordered a drink. “Tsugumi, can I have a brandtini?”

“Hm? Sure!” Tsugumi gave the drink to Sayo before working on Lisa’s drink.

Sayo just looked at her drink for a second before she went back looking at Tsugumi working. She was fascinated by her work. The way she moved around to pick the bottle of the different alcohols. It was sort of graceful for Sayo’s eyes. The way the girl’s hair moved each time the brunette did something also hypnotized the teal-haired girl. And the fingers closing the shaker… She just remembered when Tsugumi rested her hand on her earlier, and she suddenly blushed again. ‘What am I thinking?!’ She suddenly gulped down her cocktail to think about something else. But she didn’t notice Tsugumi was already done when she drank the beverage in one go.

“S-Sayo-san? You shouldn’t drink that fast!” She put the brandtini in front of Lisa, not even saying anything. She was suddenly concerned for Sayo and walked closer to the teal-haired girl, leaning slightly over the counter without noticing.

Sayo noticed though, and she blushed even more. And she also felt Lisa staring at her and grinning. She couldn’t stay here longer, she knew Lisa was about to start something soon.

“I- I’m fine! I- I should go now, it’s late and I should fill the file for the school. G-Good night Hazawa-san, Imai-san.”

Sayo fled from the bar without looking back at Lisa and Tsugumi once. She had never escaped from the bar this fast before but she really didn’t want to let any of the girls comment further on the topic. She was a full mess. A completely different kind of mess than she was when she had woken up but still a complete and utter mess nonetheless. Her face was coated in a deep red not due to the alcohol she had downed in the slightest.

The two girls who Sayo had just abandoned watched with varying degrees of shock and confusion at the teal-haired woman’s retreating figure. Eventually, Lisa let out a snort, entertained by this turn of events while Tsugumi just sighed, wondering if she had done something wrong.

“… Did I do something wrong…?” She looked down a little, feeling horrible for a second. She really didn’t want to be annoying to Sayo, and she didn’t want to be disliked by the girl. Fortunately, Lisa was fast to comfort Tsugu.

“No don’t worry~ On the contrary, you did great! I have never seen Sayo in this state~ Usually, she’s…” She stopped talking, actually feeling like she shouldn’t reveal Sayo’s life too much to Tsugumi. After all, it seemed that the teal-haired girl was starting to be better… ‘maybe… No, it’s too soon to make assumptions.’  Lisa thought before finishing talking. “Nevermind, I will let you discover more of her by yourself~”

“Eeh? But I’m not even sure I’m going to see her again!” Tsugumi complained a little. She really wanted to know more. She wanted to comfort herself a little too, because she was sure she wouldn’t see her again. It’s impossible. She can’t come here often enough to meet Sayo again. Or it would be a miracle.

“Hmm you’ll see~” Lisa said, giggling. Of course she knew something that Tsugumi didn’t. If Sayo was really going to fill the form for her school… Lisa was looking forward to seeing how Sayo was going to change.

Sayo arrived back home really quick. She walked so fast she was actually panting to catch her breath. She took her coat off, and pulled one cigarette from her pocket. She really needed that one after what happened. After lighting it up, she sat at the table again, and stared at the papers. She really said she would fill them… she still wasn’t sure, but just remembering Tsugumi gave her enough motivation to fill them.

“Filling it… I guess I can. I can’t come back on my words, that wouldn’t be fair.”

It was just an excuse for her mind. Deep inside, she just wanted to be someone better again. She was still thinking she didn’t deserve to be happy, but Tsugumi said she looked better when she smiled. Maybe she could try to smile, just for this girl who made her evening colourful for a hour or so. She just hoped she would meet the woman one day, and show her a genuine and smile from herself, and not unconsciously.


	2. Unexpected Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Sayo to finally change her life!

BIP BIP BIP

Sayo groaned from her bed, her head hurt so much. She just went to sleep why is the alarm clock on her phone activated. Without even looking at the screen, she snoozes the alarm. But after spending ten minutes to fall asleep, she finally wondered why she set an alarm today. With her eyes half open, she looked at her phone screen and unlocked it. She opened the clock app, and read the label she set for the alarm. It took her some seconds to finally understand what ‘start school’ meant. She forgot she filled the file last month, and got approved. She never got out of her bed this quickly.

“Crap I totally forgot school. I can’t be late!”

She tried to run into the bathroom, but on her way, a can of beer fell on the ground. Fortunately, it was empty so nothing poured out of the can. However, Sayo still let out a sigh when she saw that. Now she remembered why her head hurt. Last night she had neglected to remember she had school the following day. That’s the reason why she drank quite a lot in order to forget her darkening thoughts. Of course it didn’t really work. She really missed the girl she met one month ago at Lisa’s bar. As she guessed, she never met her again. And of course, Lisa teased her about that…

“… My first day of school and I have a hangover. I also smell like alcohol. Great.”

She rushed into the bathroom - this time not stopping herself midway - to prepare herself and clean this horrible scent. The shower was quick this time. She couldn’t afford to relax under the water after all. When she was out of the shower, she dried herself as fast as possible before putting her casual outfit again. It was something comfortable for her, and a style she liked. It was almost her only outfit though with one hooded sweatshirt. The good point of college, she didn’t have to wear an uniform anymore. After tending to her hair and trying to hide her dark rings under her eyes with some make up she got from Lisa, she went back into the main room.

Sayo check the clock, 9:20am. The hall meeting for the students was at 10am if she remembered correctly, and she had around 30 minutes to go there. She was definitely too late to take a good breakfast. She already missed her black coffee… Trying not to think about it too much, she just prepared a slice of bread with jam and stuffed it in her mouth. With the slice still in her mouth, she put her coat and started to open the door. She remembered just on time she needed her bag. Of course it wasn’t ready… She suddenly felt so bad all her serious for school in highschool disappeared. She had a long way to go if she wanted to be herself again… If she ever wanted to, she wasn’t even sure.

“Where is the me who was efficient in high school. Pull yourself together Sayo.”

In a rush, she prepared a bag with some stuff to not just put in an appearance at school: pencil case, a bloc note and a binder if she ever got papers. Then she rushed out of her place, locking the door behind her. She really didn’t want to be late for her first day. Deep inside her, there was still this thought about skipping school and not going for another year… But the thought of the promise she made to Tsugumi was stronger to counter it. She hoped she would meet the girl again one day…

Sayo arrived at the school just in time. It was a music university, with a lot of different people around. Here you could study the fundamentals of music, offering a numerous amount or courses to end as a pro musician, producer, composer, manager or even DJ. As a new student, Sayo would mostly study basic things about music, even things that she already knew. However, it was good enough for her. She could adapt herself again to school without being overloaded by learning things during the first year. Besides, it has always been her choice to study here. She always wanted to work in composing songs, she found it wonderful how people could make songs filled with their feelings, and she wanted to do the same. However, for now she would have to focus on just not failing her first year because of alcohol… She already had a hangover the first day of school. And she forgot to bring painkillers, she hoped she would find some somewhere.

As she entered the school, she could see around a bit. Some people were coming from the dorm part of the school ground, most of the students actually. It seemed that the dorms were very good and not very expensive, but Sayo wanted a place for herself to do whatever she wanted. Moreover, since she wasn’t enrolled the last years, she couldn’t really live there.

There were also some green spaces with benches and trees, it looked very comfortable. She thought about coming here from time to time if it wasn’t crowded. Eating lunch, or just resting would be great on those benches.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a bell, and she checked her phone. ‘Crap, I’m late!’ She rushed - walking fast, because she still couldn’t break the rule - to the lecture theatre where her first lesson was. She arrived panting a bit, but she managed to arrive just before the teacher. She took a seat somewhere without many students, so the front row. The lesson was more or less a meeting, with the teachers presenting the school, how they would spend the next years until they graduate, the different activities and so on. Since already checked everything online, and not only once, so this presentation was really boring. Of course, she tried not to sleep, it would be rude. Yet it was really hard, and she missed most of what happened. At least, she was able to get the information she couldn’t get online, and wrote them on a sheet of paper. It was almost not legible, but she guessed she would manage later.

The meeting kept going until the end. She learnt the lesson only started tomorrow, so she was free for today. She really wanted to go back home to get a bit more sleep, but her mind told her to keep looking around the school, especially the first floor since it had all the facilities and the classroom for the first years. She fought the urge to sleep and walked around after leaving the lecture theatre. The school was big, but she found some signs to guide her around. She easily located the school auditorium first, and looked around. It had a ton of modern stuff. The mixing deck was so big she couldn’t understand anything on it. There was a drum set on the stage, as well as a grand piano. It seemed to have wheels, maybe to move it to the centre of the scene when it played alone. She could easily guess with the quality of the room that it couldn’t be used by anyone, and mostly used for big events. Knowing she would definitely not come here again during her years here, she left.

The next room she found was the infirmary. She could finally get some medicine for this horrible hangover. She opened the door of the infirmary, at least she thought. Just as she was about to grab the door handle, the door opened in front of her.

“See you later Rinrin!”

The girl who opened the door bumped into Sayo without letting her the time to react. And she was taller than Sayo, which made the girl lose her balance and fall on the ground. The purple haired girl looked at Sayo on the ground, and handed a hand.

“Sorry I didn’t see you. Are you alright?” Crap, she really didn’t see the stranger girl when she opened the door and bumped into her. She hoped the teal-haired girl wouldn’t be angry at her. She never saw her around though..

“Yes I am. I was careless too, don’t apologize.” With a forced smile, Sayo accepted the girl’s hand to stand up again. Standing next to the purple haired girl quietly made Sayo realize the stranger might be taller by five or ten centimetres, which impressed her. She didn’t meet a lot of girls taller than her, especially not this much taller. But more importantly, she needed those medicines. “Are you the nurse?”

“Me? No, I’m also a student here! I’m Udagawa Ako, a third year! nice to meet ya!” Ako smirked, trying to be cool. She found the new girl actually interesting, but she couldn’t find any reason for it. Maybe because she could smell the cool aura around Sayo - though she didn’t know it was just the smell of cigarette mixed with coffee, the main odours in Sayo’s apartment.

“I’m…” She hesitated for a second, should she use her last name again? It was painful, very painful. However, if she wanted to start her life again, she needed to accept her last name too. Telling Ako her last name would be her first step toward the new life she’s looking for. The girl seemed mature, and with her height and the fact that she was a third year, Sayo supposed Ako was older than her. “I’m Hikawa Sayo. It’s nice to meet you, Udagawa-senpai.”

Ako was about to answer the woman in front of her, but a voice from behind cut her just before.

“Ako-chan? Is something wrong?”

Another woman appeared. She seemed a bit smaller than Sayo, so much smaller than Ako. Her long silky black hair was contrasting with the white blouse she was wearing. She looked really beautiful. Sayo quickly noticed the name tag on the blouse. ‘Shirogane Rinko’ seemed to be the nurse’s name. Good timing since she wanted to get some medicines.

“Shirogane-sensei. I just bumped into Udagawa-senpai, nothing concerning.”

“O-Oh… A-Are you hurt..?” Her nurse’s instinct made her talk before she could think. Rinko didn’t expect a new student this soon. She had trouble with new people and was taken aback. She started to stutter a little. At least, it was less horrible than during highscool, where she couldn’t talk to strangers at all.

“I’m fine. Oh but, I was coming for something. Do you happen to have medicine for a hangover?” Sayo said calmly. It was embarrassing to bring her hangover, but without that, she couldn’t get her medicine. As expected, the two girls looked at her with eyes opened wide.

“Sayo-san you drink alcohol? It’s so cool!!” Ako was suddenly amazed by the girl her eyes almost sparkled. She was a first year so she supposed she was still under the required age to drink. Yet, she was drinking? She thought it was so cool!

Rinko, however, didn’t share Ako’s thought at all. She was shocked. “Y-You shouldn’t drink alcohol under 20.” She was suddenly worried for the woman, and almost thought she was a delinquent. The only thing making her think the contrary was the neat outfit and the politeness of the girl.

“Oh, but I’m 23 now, do not worry. I wouldn’t do something like that if it wasn’t legal.” Sayo tried her best to calm Rinko, and also Ako who was too energetic suddenly. Yet, the two girls kept her eyes open wide. ‘Did I say something wrong…?’

Ako was the first to talk again. “Wow!!! So cool!!! That’s amazing you’re older than me! You’re like RinRin!” She was still amazed, this time for another reason. A first-year student older than her, she never thought it would happen! She was so excited it almost made Sayo feel worse. At least, Rinko was here to calm this dynamo.

“Ako-chan, you shouldn’t bother her if she has a hangover. Besides, don’t you have something to do?” Rinko noticed Sayo’s discomfort and tried to help her. Everyone couldn’t handle Ako, especially when she was intrigued like that.

“Oh right! I totally forgot!! I have to go now, see you later Sayo-san! RinRin!!” Ako quickly left the two girls alone while waving to them until she couldn’t see them.

The two girls looked at each other for a second. Rinko didn’t know what to say, and it started to be uncomfortable between her and the student. But she had to say something! She gathered her thought, and her courage, and finally spoke.

“S-So… do you need anything?” As soon as the words left her mouth, Rinko noticed what she asked was a rather stupid question. The woman already told her what she wanted. She did her best to correct herself before the student could repeat what she had asked for. “O-Oh right, medicine for a hangover, I- I will bring it to you!” She retreated in the infirmary, her cheeks turning red from embarrassment.

Sayo was dumbfounded, and just stood in front of the door. She didn’t know how to react to that, but supposed she would get her medicine soon. The nurse seemed interesting though, and she guessed she would have to be on her good side since she was sure it wouldn’t be her last encounter… While the nurse was away, she tried to think about what she could do next. She visited most of the school. When rushing for the meeting, she passed in front of her classroom for tomorrow so she knew the way. She found the auditorium, and the nurse office. The latter was really important. She should check the cafeteria as well as where the library was located on the campus. The remaining could be checked tomorrow or another day.

Rinko finally opened the door again with a little bag in her hand that she offered to Sayo. The teal-haired woman took it gladly and looked inside. A bottle of water, a little bag of cookies and the painkiller. It was odd to offer this much suddenly, she never asked this much.

“Shirogane-sensei, I think you made a mistake. I never asked for water or cookies…”

“I know. I… I just thought it would be better to recover from a hangover if you could eat and drink too… W-Was it wrong..?” Rinko was anxious she made the wrong choice. She really didn’t want to annoy the woman. Maybe she should have just given the painkiller and left her alone… However, a smile suddenly appeared on the teal-haired girl’s face. It was small but it seemed genuine. The smile comforted the nurse instantly.

“Thank you sensei. I actually didn’t eat much for breakfast since I was late. It helps a lot.” Sayo was really glad. She didn’t notice she smiled earlier, but she was happy the nurse was kind to someone like her. She would do her best not to disappoint her.

“I’m glad… you’re welcome err…” Rinko thought she heard Ako call the woman ‘Sayo’, but she wasn’t sure. And it seemed to be her first name, she couldn’t be this casual with someone the same age. “What is your name?”

“I’m Hikawa Sayo. It’s a pleasure to meet you Shirogane-sensei.” Sayo didn’t hesitate a second to introduce herself this time. She could still feel her heart tightening when her last name came out of her mouth, but she ignored it. It felt great to slowly accept this side of her again.

“The pleasure is all mine Hikawa-san.” Rinko was actually happy to have someone close to her age who was nice to her. Most of the other teachers didn’t really talk to her, and they were mostly older too.

Sayo was about to ask the nurse to use her first name, but someone interrupted them. “Sensei…” Their face was pale, and they were holding their stomach. Sayo figured she should leave now and not take more of the nurse’s time.

“I will leave you now Shirogane-sensei. Thank you for the bag.” She walked away from the woman after confirming the nurse heard her leaving.

“Let’s take this first…” Sayo took the painkiller from the bag, as well as the water and swallowed the pill. She kept drinking few more gulp after to quench her thirst. It felt great to drink some water, and it woke her up again. Time for more exploration around the campus. Sayo took a cookie and slowly ate it while wandering around.

It seemed that the library wasn’t far from the nurse office, and it was really big. She didn’t plan to look around, but it was intriguing. Inside, a lot of shelves with books from different topics: music - of course - but also novels, newspapers, dictionaries, history books and so on. She also noticed a lot of tables with plugs, maybe to work with a computer. At least she knew she could come here to study if she couldn’t focus at her home. There were also some rooms for working in groups, which could be useful in the future maybe.

After looking around some more, Sayo left the library, and ventured toward the cafeteria. This time, she had to walk much more as the place was located on the other side of the campus. She discovered more classrooms and another green space with benches and trees. She finally reached her destination after around five minutes walking. The canteen was big, and mostly vacant, as expected for the first day of the school year. Some people were chilling together and eating, sitting around tables. Sayo paid no attention to them, and looked around. The menu was displayed above the counter, and it seemed to be filled with a variety of food. It wasn’t very expensive either. ‘Maybe I should eat here if I need to stay at school during lunch time.’ In a corner of the room, some vending machines as well. She also spotted a billiard table and some table football table. She paid no further notice to them, not interested in those games. But the place was really comfortable and nice to relax.

After checking around a last time, she left. She achieved everything she had to do today, so she finally decided to go back home. She checked the hour on her phone. It was around 11:45am. She could be back home in time to eat something. She passed through the main gate again, and walked toward the train station. It was a five minutes walk, and so she looked around the streets this time. She couldn’t do it this morning since she was in a hurry. She noticed a lot of vendors as well as a bakery. ‘Yamabuki bakery’, ‘Kitazawa butcher shop’. She also spotted a convenience store. She didn’t think it was useful for her since she had one near her house too… A bit further, she spotted a café with some rabbits on their windows. She couldn’t spot the name of the place from this facade, so she walked further. After reaching the junction of the roads, she could finally read the name.

‘Hazawa café’

She froze for a second. She couldn’t believe this place was related to Tsugumi. It would be too easy to find her again like this. But deep inside, she wanted it to be real. She wanted to find the girl inside. With an unbelievable determination, she opened the door of the shop.

“Welcome!”

The place Sayo just entered was splendid and neat. The floor was made of wood, and it was almost shining. There were numerous tables around with different sizes and different numbers of chairs around them. The things that caught her eyes the most though were all the photos on the walls. Photos of Tsugumi around people, photos of animals, photos of people she didn’t know. She really was at Tsugumi’s cafe… It was of course obvious when the girl who greeted her was none other than Hazawa Tsugumi, in a cafe uniform. The uniform was cuter than the bartender one, and it also suited the brunette perfectly. Sayo almost had to fight the urge to hug the girl after going that much time without talking to her. It was odd. She never grew attached to someone this much before in her life. Thinking of hugging someone never crossed her mind for as far as she can remember, especially not someone she met only once in a bar. She didn’t know how to think about herself having those ideas. She was almost scared of herself, thinking she was just using the brunette to feel better. But for now, she could finally talk to her again. She tried to chase this thought out of her mind. She thought she wouldn’t be able to see Tsugumi anymore, but she was here, in front of her. And again, like the first time she met her, she froze from how beautiful the brunette was.

“Oh! Sayo-san! Good morning! I never thought that I would meet you here~! What bring you to this café?” Tsugumi was genuinely surprised, but also overjoyed. She also wanted to see Sayo again as soon as she would be able to. It was hard to contain her joy at being able to interact with the teal-haired woman again. She couldn’t just burst it out since she was technically still working. At least she didn’t have customers who needed her right now, so she could take care of Sayo a little!

“Y- I was just going back home from school and I spotted this place… I never thought the location you worked at would be near the school I ended up sending my application to and began attending. And I never expected you to work at a café. Are you by chance the owner?” Yes, she almost let the same ‘you’ escape her lips, but this time she managed to control herself. She was managing her emotions far better than last time… except for her smile that suddenly appeared on her face. She couldn’t really control something she wasn’t aware of. She at least knew she acted silly around Tsugumi. Again, it was frightening her how her behaviour changed around the brunette, without being able to control her feelings.

“Yes I am! I ‘ve owned this place ever since I finished my studies two years ago. It was my parents’ café before, and I used to work here as a part time job. Now running this place is my responsibility!” For a reason, Tsugumi explained all of this without thinking. She was just filled with joy at the idea of sharing some part of her life with Sayo. And she wanted to talk more with her. However… Something piqued her attention even more. “And you’re going to school now?! I’m so proud of you!! Hehe I knew you could do it! If you need any help don’t hesitate!” She really was proud. She wanted Sayo to be happy after all.

Sayo couldn’t help but blush a little at that. They were still strangers, yet she felt so close to the brunette for unknown reasons… She wanted to learn more about her, and discover why she felt close. Something was gravitating her to Tsugumi’s side, and it was both exciting and scary because she didn’t know what was doing that to her. Maybe if she knew more about Tsugumi, she wouldn’t be scared about her feelings being in this state. Sayo decided to change the topic before she became a big mess. “Yeah… L-Let’s forget about school for now. This is a café, may I have a black coffee?”

“Sure! A black coffee for Sayo-san~” Tsugumi was so happy she couldn’t help but giggle. She never felt like this before and honestly it was scaring her, but due to the fact she was feeling overjoyed just talking to the teal haired woman she didn't ponder on this fear any longer. “You can sit around the counter if you want!” she finished talking, and went behind the counter to prepare the coffee. There was a section that seemed almost like what you would see behind a bar where she would prepare the coffee to serve to her customers, and next to that section there was a clear display case showcasing many different cakes that the café is selling that day.

Sayo walked to the counter where she could sit, and then stared at the cakes for a moment. Every single cake displayed behind the glass looked extremely yummy and were decorated beautifully… She almost wanted to order all of them to eat them. She was really weak to sweets. She had to resist the temptation to taste them! But those ones were probably made by Tsugumi, Sayo was sure they tasted great… ‘No Sayo, you can’t crack now, not in front of her.’ She shook her head a bit to regain her thoughts, and then stared at Tsugumi working. She looked so diligent and breathtakingly gorgeous when she was working with this serious look on her face. Sayo couldn’t look away from the brunette. She could gaze at her all day, but that would be creepy so she wouldn’t do that. Tsugumi actually finished a bit after, bringing a glass of water for herself, as well as a cup of black coffee, and a cookie..? Sayo stared at it for a second.

“I never ordered a cookie Hazawa-san.” She was confused. What this a present?

“I know, it’s just something I give to people when they order a coffee. A cup of coffee with a cookie is much better than without I think!” Besides, she really wanted to offer one of her baked goods to Sayo, and hoped the she would like it.

“I see… Thank you then.” Sayo was a bit surprised, but if it was like this to all the customers, it would be rude to decline. She first decied to taste the cookie. The first bite alone made her mouth explode with flavour. She opened her eyes wide from the surprise at how delicious the chocolate chip cookie was, and kept devouring all of it. It was so delicious. It pained her to think like that, but it was far better than Rinko’s cookies. She couldn’t even stop herself and ate the whole cookie before she noticed. “It’s so delicious Hazawa-san! You’re really wonderful.” Now for the coffee. Sayo blew on it to make it cooler and not burn her tongue, and then sipped it. The beverage was also wonderful and wasn’t too bitter nor too sweet, leaving a fresh flavour in the throat after swallowing it. She tasted a lot of different coffee, and this particular blend was certainly the best she had in her life. She might get addicted to it. “The coffee is also delicious! I- I think I’m already addicted…”

“Thank you Sayo-san! I’m glad you like it…”

Sayo sounded so serious Tsugumi blushed heavily. She received so many compliments from the woman and she definitely wasn’t used to getting that many, especially from someone this gorgeous and interesting. But it made her happy again. Her heart felt warm, and she couldn’t help but grin happily at the teal-haired girl. She really wanted to learn more about her… But maybe she should talk about herself too, it wouldn’t be fair to only listen to one side.

“So Sayo-san~ since last time we talked about you, why don’t you ask me about something? You can help yourself with the photos around.”

“Hmm.”

That was an interesting offer. Sayo put her cup back on the counter, and looked around at the photos.. Something was more frequent than the other, it was this group of five people with Tsugumi. They seemed to be together a lot, and Sayo was a bit curious. Maybe it would help her to pinpoint what she wanted to know. She pointed at the closest photo with the five people.

“I see a lot of pictures with you and those 4 people, you all seem close. Are they your friends?”

“Oh.”

Tsugumi looked at the photo with nostalgia, a weak but genuine smile on her face. She definitely remembered this picture as if it had been taken the day before.

“Those are my best friends… We used to be a band during highschool, and a bit during college too. But when we all started to work it became a bit hard to practice and do lives… We sometimes play here when we are all free though! It’s really fun…”

Sayo could feel Tsugumi’s nostalgia, and also see it in the brunette’s eyes. Without knowing the other girls, she knew they were precious people to Tsugumi. She was a bit jealous that the woman had friends like that in her life, but more importantly, she was happy for her.

“Is it too much to ask for more? I… want to know a bit about people around you.” Sayo asked. She felt a bit awkward to ask that.

“Of course!” Tsugumi, on the contrary, was so happy that Sayo wanted to know more. She didn’t hesitate to talk more. “Hm so… First, there is Himari-chan! The pink-haired girl playing the bass! She is very kind and energetic. She is a kindergarten teacher now, and all the kids love her! Hehe, when we were a band, she always wanted to do a ‘hey hey oh’ thing before going on stage. Nobody really followed her though, it was embarrassing hehe~”

“I could guess yes… but it must have been nice to have someone energetic around you…” Sayo was a bit happier for Tsugumi. At least, the brunette didn’t have a hard life like her. And that was good, she wouldn’t have deserved something like this.

“Yes! It was really nice… We are still very close, she often come to the café to spend time with me when she is free!” Tsugumi took a little pause before continuing. “Next, Ran-chan! Our vocalist and guitarist, the one with a strand of red hair. She’s more the cool type, but she is so cute when she’s flustered! Hehe a bit like you~”

Sayo instantly flushed, and frowned a bit before retorting. “I- I’m not like that Hazawa-san.”

“Sure~ We can check that later if you want~ for now.. Ran-chan yes! So, she now has taken over her father’s flower arrangement school! At first she disliked it, but after facing her father, she got into it slowly and. Honestly, I’m glad she’s doing something she loves… She deserves that…” She took another pause to gather her thought, and drink some water. “Hmm next is Tomoe-chan! The tall girl! She is a photographer and travels a lot around Japan to take pictures. Hehe she already won some prizes! And she is the one who took most of the photos. She was also our drummer. Her little sister, Ako-chan, is also a drummer! I’m a bit envious of their relationship and how they rehearse and jam a lot together… Since I’m an only child.”

Ako… Sayo heard this name before, but it could only be a coincidence right? She didn’t ask for a confirmation though, she didn’t want to bother Tsugumi more when she didn’t seem to be well.

“I… I’m sorry I can’t say I understand your feelings Hazawa-san…” Before the accident, Sayo would have been envious of Tsugumi’s situation. But even with all the negative feelings she hold toward her sister, she still saved her life. She can’t hold this grudge for her sister’s success in everything, not anymore. She accepted that she couldn’t do anything, that she was worthless. Now, she was trying to be happy on her own with that uselessness of hers. And to help Tsugumi, she decided to change the subject. “Who is the last girl?”

“Oh” Tsugumi was a bit taken aback by the sudden change of topic, not even able to answer Sayo’s last comment. But she was actually glad. Being an only child was actually a topic she didn’t enjoy talking about. Her smile back, she answered for the last girl.

“She’s Moca-chan! She was our guitarist. You can meet her around the town wandering most of the time, or sleeping hehe. She loves sleeping and the bread from Saaya-chan! The owner of the Yamabuki bakery. For unknown reasons, she doesn’t work. We still don’t know why or how she does to buy all those breads without running out of money hehe. She stays mysterious~”

As soon as Tsugumi finished to talk, her phone rang. She jumped a bit from surprise, not expecting it to ring. When she checked the screen, she saw the reason why. She totally forgot she had an appointment this afternoon. And she also noticed the hour. It was a bit later than 12pm, which meant she should have closed some minutes ago.

“Oh I- I really don’t want to but… It’s past midday and I need to close Sayo-san… I apologize for cutting our little moment like this. I-” Tsugumi was cut by Sayo.

“It’s alright Hazawa-san. I shouldn’t have bothered you that long. I will leave you now.” Sayo paused for a second, she finished her coffee and stood up. However, before leaving, she looked at Tsugumi. Her cheeks were slightly redder than usual. She wanted to see the girl as soon as possible. Again, it was so strange for her to feel like that, but she didn’t want to go against her feelings, not when she was happy. “If it’s possible… can we meet tomorrow after my school? If you can’t it’s alright.”

Tsugumi’s heart skipped a beat. Sayo’s blush was so adorable, she couldn’t look away for a second. After regaining her composure from that, she beamed at Sayo. “Of course we can! Feel free to come whenever you want.” Again, she couldn’t stop her happiness showing. She was so happy the girl would come back tomorrow, and she looked forward to talking with her more.

Sayo had made sure to take her time in saying goodbye to Tsugumi properly and left the café soon after. She headed to her house, already looking forward to coming to school tomorrow just to see Tsugumi after.


	3. Is it a date?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsugumi noticed Sayo didn't have a lot of different outfits, and so she offered to her to go shopping together!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! I'm so so sorry for the late post for this chapter. Actually, I had some trouble with my friend that was proofreading everything. With school resuming for her she couldn't help me. At first we decided to wait a bit until her workload calmed down, but it seems like uni isn't kind at all with her... That's why I will be proofreading for now on because I don't want to bother her too much. The content might be of less quality than before but I hope you will all enjoy it until the end!!!!
> 
> Have fun with this chapter~ <3

Sayo was on her way to school. Well, technically not school because she didn’t have any classes today, but to a place she could do her homework and study more efficiently than she could at her home. She had been attending school for a month now. She noticed two things during this time. First of all, she couldn’t do her homework nor study at her place whatsoever. It was impossible. Each time Sayo tried, she would get distracted by something, or her thoughts would grow negative. The later always seemed to lead to alcohol. Second of all, she had forgotten so much of the knowledge she had learnt in highschool within the past five years; much more than she anticipated. It felt like she never went to high school and jumped from middle school to university. It was due to her lack of knowledge that she had to work harder than she predicted. At first, she found this annoying. She almost dropped out of school because she couldn't do anything properly. One day she brought her homework to Tsugumi’s café and tried to do her work there. Surprisingly, bringing her homework there worked. Although she did spend some of her time there talking to,or gazing at Tsugumi, she was actually able to work efficiently and complete the homework before her. From time to time, she even received help from Tsugumi when it was basic knowledge she’d forgotten about. Since that day, she decided to do most of her work there. She went to Tsugumi’s café almost every week day. Since that day, she had made sure to go there to focus on and do her work. She even went through the trouble to take the train to go there when she didn’t have any classes, like today.

Once she arrived at the cafe she greeted Tsugumi as usual and ordered a black coffee. She was getting used to go there; by this point it almost became natural to greet Tsugumi at the cafe. Tsugumi knew her usual order so even without asking for anything, Tsugumi supplied Sayo with a cup of black coffee every time she showed up. Of course, Sayo loved them. They were far better than those she made at home, so much that she almost thought about eating her breakfast here instead. Unfortunately, for most of the week days, the café opened too late for her to come here and go to school after. Sayo could only do that when she had school late. She couldn’t bother Tsugumi either by coming earlier than the opening hour. Sayo knew the brunette well enough to know that she wouldn't say no to the idea; it's why she never told Tsugumi about it. She already felt bad about bothering Tsugumi for help with her homework every day.

Unlike the first time she came to the café, she had decided to begin sitting at one of the tables inside the establishment instead of the counter. It was more convenient to do her homework on a table with much more room to spread out than the slightly more narrow counter. Additionally, she really didn't want to bother Tsugumi more with all her books and her presence - since Tsugumi was working behind the counter a lot. Today, Tsugumi was sitting in front of her while she was working. She seemed to be reading a book, which was unusual for the brunette since she was still working. Well, the shop seemed to be a wasteland today; there were no customers whatsoever. Sayo didn’t really mind since she could have Tsugumi all for herself…  ‘Crap, again those thoughts. Go away, I’m working right now!’  She was starting to think about Tsugumi unconsciously, and it was too much. Lately, she had a lot of romantic thoughts about the brunette. It bothered her greatly; she had never thought of romance before. Even if she had passing thoughts of it in the past, it wasn't for her. That much she was certain of. As usual, she had to chase those thoughts away from her mind. Tsugumi wasn't like that to her. She was just a precious friend that had helped her choose a goal for herself and chase after said goal. Tsugumi helped Sayo forwards into her future but she still was just an amazing friend to Sayo.

“Sayo-san, about your clothes…” Tsugumi wanted to say something. Sayo’s clothes seemed to be composed only of her casual outfit: a white blouse and jeans, and this black hooded sweatshirt she was currently wearing. Was she having trouble with finding new clothes? Tsugumi was a bit concerned since Sayo didn’t seem to have much outfits.

Sayo didn’t know what was wrong with her clothes. She stopped working on her homework and looked down at her clothes while raising an eyebrow. She thought something was out of place such as not wearing her clothes properly, but she couldn’t spot anything wrong. Her confusion grew with that observation. “Is something wrong with them..?”

“It’s not something wrong… it’s well… you don’t have other clothes?” As embarrassing as it was, the brunette still decided to be direct with her thoughts. She learnt that Sayo didn’t really like to beat around the bush. Tsugumi didn’t have bad intentions when she had asked those questions to Sayo. The teal-haired girl was, of course, still oblivious.

“Yes, you are correct. is there something wrong?” Sayo asked, raising one eyebrow a bit more. She really was confused and couldn’t see what was wrong. Did she do something bad?

“No not really! It’s just, maybe you could try to wear other clothes..? You would look better with another outfit! And it would also be more comfortable I think!” Tsugumi stated, determined as usual.

“Hmm you think so? But I don’t really have the time to waste on shopping; I’m fine with my current clothes as long as it doesn’t bother my studies.” Sayo answered. She really didn’t mind her wardrobe that much. 

Sayo finally went back to her homework. She assumed the conversation was done and she could focus back on her papers while talking. It seemed impolite, but Tsugumi convinced her to work while talking after she kept stopping her work to answer. Tsugumi told her she was just losing time looking at her instead of writing the essay of the week or whatever math equations she was to work through. Sayo wanted to answer that looking at the brunette was a better use of her time, however she decided to hold this thought back as long as she could.

“…” For a moment Tsugumi didn’t say more. She was thinking. She really wanted to spice up Sayo's wardrobe. She would look much more beautiful with more than only two different outfits to show off. Maybe it was just her speaking, but she's sure that Sayo would really do well with some additions to her clothing options! Then an idea hit her mind! “Say Sayo-san, are you almost done with your homework?”

“Hm?” Sayo raised her eyes again to look at Tsugumi. Another surprising face for the teal-haired girl. The question was sudden she couldn’t think about the reason why Tsugumi asked that. “Yes I am, why?”

“Perfect! Then let’s go do some shopping together!” Tsugumi stated, determined and excited. If Sayo couldn’t find the time to buy new clothes she would find some time for the two of them. Tsugumi was lucky the shop was empty; and it was almost the closing time! A very good opportunity to hang out with the teal-haired woman and do some shopping together.

“Eh? Shopping?” Sayo was taken aback by the suggestion. More importantly her mind couldn’t help but link this with a date. Her cheeks evidently turned red from the thought and she had to shake her head to chase it out of her mind and regain her composure. It wasn't a bad idea after all. Sayo wouldn't deny the offer to go get some new clothing and she definitely would not say no to hanging out with Tsugumi more. “Alright, let’s go shopping.”

“Yes!” Tsugumi of course was overjoyed by the idea. She could hang out with one of her close friends and she loved it a lot! She also noticed the few seconds when Sayo's cheeks were dusted with a red blush but choose not to comment on that; after all it shouldn't be important to note if it only lasted a few seconds right? “Then let’s go now, they are new shops at the shopping mall too!”

Sayo smiled genuinely at Tsugumi and she nodded to answer her. While Sayo was tidying her stuff on the table, Tsugumi prepared the café to close. The brunette didn’t have a lot of work to do so she finished almost at the same time than Sayo finished putting her books in her bag. They then left together the café; Tsugumi locking up behind them.

* * *

The two girls arrived at the shopping mall around a quarter hour after they left the café. The hardest part of the way was the train transfer. At least the two girls seemed used to taking the train so they didn’t run into trouble. 

It was the first time for Sayo to come to the shopping mall. She was a regular of the convenient store near her place and didn’t need to come here at all in her five years in this town. Now she was impressed with how huge the place is; it has three floors with a lot of different shops: clothes, book and stationery, candies or junk food in general. There was also a big cinema. For some seconds she didn’t even listen to Tsugumi talking and just looked around, impressed.

“..Sayo-san?” Tsugumi started to be slightly worried with the teal-haired girl not answering her questions at all. She stood up in front of the woman and looked at her in the eyes. Usually, she would feel her heart skip a beat or beating faster, but her worries were too big to consider anything romantic in this situation.

“H-Hm?” Sayo was certainly taken aback from Tsugumi standing in front of her suddenly and addressing her. Seeing the brunette with this worried look on her face pained Sayo for a second, and she started to become worried as well. “Is something wrong Hazawa-san? You don’t look good…”

“I’m fine, I was worried because you didn’t answer me. Maybe I am bothering you by bringing you here…?” Tsugumi started to feel the guilt corrupting her heart. She didn’t want to bother her close friend, and she thought that maybe she had been a bit forceful earlier at the café. It hurt her, she didn’t want to force herself on Sayo at all.

“I’m sorry Hazawa-san for worrying you. I promise you aren’t bothering me. I was just lost in my thought because it’s my first time coming here.” To think that Tsugumi was thinking about such things, and it was Sayo’s fault because she didn’t answer her earlier. The teal-haired girl sighed quietly. She facepalmed herself mentally; she didn’t want to worry Tsugumi even more by doing that in front of her. She was an idiot and she should retrieve the situation and not do the same mistake again. “Since we’re here, let’s walk around together, shall we?” 

“Yes!” Tsugumi was relieved to hear that she wasn’t a bother. But she should work even harder to make this day even better for Sayo. She was already overjoyed just to hang out with the teal-haired girl, but she can’t forget their first goal: buying new clothes for Sayo. However she caught something a bit odd in Sayo’s words. “But is it really your first time here? This place is quite famous after all, I’m surprised.”

“Yes. I usually only stick to the convenient store near my place. And when I need something that aren’t there, I order it online. So it’s my first time coming to this shopping mall.” She stated, trying to explain without feeling embarrassed. She was self-aware of how lazy she looked with her lack of clothes and not even moving to a shopping mall to buy stuff. But ordering online sure was effective. It was fast and she didn’t have to move. She just needed to be available the day of the delivery, which wasn’t hard with her free days… 

She just remembered she started school now. It would be harder to order online with her current condition. Maybe it was a good idea that she came here with someone. “I must say, this place is far bigger than I thought. I always supposed shopping malls were smaller… I guess I was wrong.”

“Yes hehe~ this place is very huge! You can find most of the stuff - if not anything - you want. Though I must admit it’s a bit far from my place… I’m sorry” Tsugumi actually loved this place a lot. She made a lot of memories here with her friend and bought a lot of things for when they were a band. She remembered when she bought tissues to make some outfits for her band mates. It was hard to make them, but she would treasure this memory for eternity. She hoped the memories she was about to make with Sayo would also hold a precious place in her heart. She was already excited to see the woman wearing a lot of new and different outfits. Without thinking twice - well, without thinking at all - the brunette took Sayo’s hand in her and enthusiastically lead her upstairs to the floor with all the clothes stores.

Sayo was caught off guard by Tsugumi holding her hand so suddenly and couldn’t stop her cheeks from turning red. While following the brunette, she could only think about how soft and warm Tsugumi’s hand and fingers were. She wanted to hold back the hand but didn’t know if it was a good idea. Those romantic ideas were again coming suddenly in her mind and Sayo was still ignorant of their origin. She felt her heart pounding fast as she thought about holding hand and intertwining her fingers with Tsugumi’s. Sayo felt embarrassed and even disgusted by herself for holding such thoughts for her friend. She shouldn’t be too close to someone, even if they were two girls. She was sure it would make the brunette uncomfortable. She didn’t know what were those feelings but she knew she shouldn’t have them in first place. As they arrived to the floor, Sayo chased her those feelings away to concentrate on the current situation and her current goal. 

“From where should we start?” She asked while looking around at the large choice of shop.

“Hmm… I think you would look great in cool outfit like more blouses, and some skirt or dresses! So let’s go there!” Tsugumi, still holding Sayo’s hand and not noticing how embarrassing it was, lead the teal-haired woman to one of the shop. Inside there was a large choice of clothes that tended to be cool and a bit boyish for some. 

“I… see, I will let you decide then, because I’m not really good with fashion. It’s more Imai-san’s job.” Sayo couldn’t think it was her style at all but she wanted to trust Tsugumi on this one. Besides, it cost nothing to try clothes; even if she didn’t plan to buy them. While Tsugumi was looking around for some clothes, Sayo decided to look in her side if she could find something that could catch her eyes. She found something after some minutes of looking around. It was marvelous. She fell in love at first sight with the dress. A pale blue button down dress with a collar and sleeves that extended to about an inch above her elbow. It was tied in a bow around her waist and extended to her mid-thigh. She was wondering if it would suit her because she loved it so much she couldn’t think about leaving the shop without this dress. She took the outfit just before Tsugumi came back with some clothes in her arms.

“Hazawa-san, I found something… Do you think it would suit me?” She asked a bit concerned. She really loved it and hoped it would suit her. It would break her heart if it didn’t.

“Of course it will! Let’s try it now! I also took some clothes for you! We can try everything at once!” Tsugumi was amazed that Sayo found something by herself. For someone who said she didn’t need clothes, Sayo looked so in love with the outfit that Tsugumi almost wanted to tease the girl. But she feared it would break the mood so she didn’t and lead the woman to the fitting room.

“Here~ you can change inside, and take your time don’t worry!” The brunette stated with a smile.

“Thank you Hazawa-san, can I show you when I’m done? I’d rather have the opinion of someone else since I’m sure mine would be biased by my non-existent self-confidence.” Sayo asked, a bit embarrassed to do so. She didn’t like bothering people and she felt like she was asking too much from Tsugumi lately. Was she abusing the brunette’s kindness? She hoped she wasn’t.

Tsugumi agreed with Sayo’s question with a bright smile. “Of course! In fact, you have to show me! I need to see if my choices look good on you~” She giggled. When Sayo closed the curtain of the dressing room, she sat on a bench really close.

The teal-haired girl releaved her new appearance with her favourite dress soon after. “Hazawa-san, how do I look? Isn’t it weird?” She glanced at herself in the mirror just before opening the curtain, and honestly she found herself gorgeous. She was proud of her choice and it might become her favourite outfit soon.

When she saw Sayo, Tsugumi froze for a second at how breathtaking the woman was. Her cheeks turned red without noticing and for another second, she opened and closed her mouth, almost mimicking a fish. She wanted to say something, but it took her quite a time to be able to finally speak her mind. “Wow… Sayo-san you’re gorgeous! It suits you perfectly! You have to buy it no matter what!”

Sayo of course didn’t handle this compliment like it was nothing. She flushed heavily. That was too much for her to be able to handle it without losing her composure. She might have started to be used to them, but not to that extent. She thanked her friend with a shy smile. f She was definitely going to buy it, she couldn’t miss that. “Thank you Hazawa-san. And of course I will buy it. I came here to buy new clothes, and I like this one.”

“I’m glad~ now you should try the one I chose!” With a beaming grin, Tsugumi gently pushed Sayo inside again. She was having so much fun already. It was something new in her usual routine with the café, and hanging out with Himari or Moca from time to time.

The two girl spent some time inside the shop trying new clothes together. Sometimes they weren’t the right size so they also had to check to get the right one before buying. They both had fun and enjoyed this little outing. Sayo walked out of the shop with a bag. Inside was her dress, some new jeans, skirts, blouses and one hooded sweatshirt. She couldn’t prevent herself from not buying the last one; she loved it and it was really soft to wear! Tsugumi laughed when Sayo tried to give argument on favour of buying it. It was really fun for them.

Now they were still in the shopping mall, wandering around. Tsugumi decided to show her around the mall since it was Sayo’s first time. They were passing in front of an accessories shop when Tsugumi suddenly stopped. She saw something really nice through the shop window and she needed it. She felt a bit awkward and bad to ask Sayo to wait for her though. But it was also for the teal-haired woman’s sake!

“Sayo-san, do you mind waiting a minute? I need to do something.” She asked, shifting on her feet from the sudden stress.

“Of course, go on Hazawa-san, I will wait there.” Sayo answered honestly. She bothered the brunette enough today, she could definitely wait some minutes alone. She took the opportunity to check her new messages on her phone, in case she received something important related to school.

“Thank you Sayo-san! I will be quick!” And soon, Tsugumi was inside the shop. She walked through the different sections to find the accessories she saw earlier. It took her some time but she managed to found them. In front of her, two charm straps for phone. One with a blue ribbon and a dog figurine, the other one with a yellow ribbon and a squirrel. She loved them so much already, and couldn’t wait to offer the blue one to Sayo! She took them and enthusiastically went to the checkout. After some more minutes being inside, she finally left the shop and grinned at Sayo.

“Sayo-san~! Give me your hand!” She suddenly said without letting Sayo greet her back.

“Eh? Hm alright?” Sayo was lost. She was taken by surprise from Tsugumi’s words since she didn’t notice her coming back. After putting her phone back in her pocket, she offered her hand to Tsugumi, wondering what the brunette wanted to do. She was also wondering the reason why she went into this shop in the first place.

With Sayo’s hand in front of her, Tsugumi put the blue charm strap in the woman’s hand, still grinning. “A present for you Sayo-san” She hoped the girl would like it, but it was enough for her to see how surprised Sayo was.

Sayo opened her eyes wider and looked at the strap. It was absolutely cute. Blue was her favourite colour, and she loved dogs so much. Just looking at the strap she was melting. She regained her composure some seconds after so as to answer Tsugumi. She didn’t want to reproduce what happened earlier. Besides, even with how happy she was, Sayo was still wondering where that came from. She did nothing special to receive something after all. “I… It’s truly beautiful Hazawa-san but, why? I don’t remember deserving something.”

“Do I need a reason to offer something to my dear friend? And also, look” She presented the yellow strap in her other hand, showing to the teal-haired girl she was matching with her. “Hehe we are matching now!” Tsugumi said joyfully. 

Sayo blushed again. The brunette seemed to be carefree about her compliments; it almost felt like she was flirting with her sometimes. She didn’t totally dislike it - at least her heart and body didn’t. But she didn’t want to flirt back or anything involving romance. She was slowly accepting the fact that she had the right to live happily, but romance was still out of her way. She was also certain she didn’t like Tsugumi that way; she was just a friend after all. “I see… I appreciate the gesture then, I will be sure to do something back.”

“No you don’t have to, I give you this because I want to, that’s all! You don’t have to do something back Sayo-san!” Tsugumi didn’t want her friend to be pressured to buy something back when she just wanted to do a present. She was just happy with offering something, and didn’t mind not receiving something in return. Besides, matching phone straps was already the best thing she could get back from Sayo accepting the present.

“I see…” Sayo had trouble to accept the present without doing something in return. That’s why even if she didn’t fight right now to make Tsugumi accept the something back she wanted to do, she still planned to do that one day. For now she can appreciate the gift - it was really cute and beautiful. She took her smartphone from her pocket and tied the strap up to it. It was so cute she couldn’t help but smile. She was very fond of dogs. But looking at the strap, she notice the hour on the screen. They spent more than a hour here already. “Oh it’s already this late. Should we go back to your café? I’d like to drink one of your coffee before going back home if you don’t mind.”

“Sure! We finished shopping after all~ But we should come back here!” Tsugumi grinned and walked back toward the station with Sayo.

* * *

The two women chatted about everything and nothing on their way back. Sayo talked a bit more about herself and her daily life. She was still hesitating to talk about her past. On the contrary, Tsugumi talked about herself too, but also about her past and about her friends and her regular customers. She really loved the café and was ready to work as hard as possible to make everyone happy and come again. Having someone like Sayo coming everyday was already giving her so much happiness. 

When they arrived at the café again, Tsugumi quickly put her apron on and prepared a coffee for Sayo, who moved to sit at the counter. Without homework to do she didn’t have to go to a table. Sitting at the counter was also better to talk with Tsugumi.

“Thank you for today Hazawa-san. It was nice.” Sayo confessed, still smiling a bit when she thought about the day she spent with her friend. She didn’t remember the last time it happened; if it ever happened. In highschool, and even before, she was too strict with herself to get friend and hang out together like this. Now she could with Tsugumi. She still hadn’t made friends at school but she didn’t mind at all. She wasn’t alone anymore.

Talking about friend… she didn’t go to Lisa’s bar lately. She should visit her soon and thank her for everything she’d done for her. Lisa was Sayo’s first friend after all, even if they didn’t do those sort of trip. She still supported her all the time and was there to listen to her grievances.

Sayo was snapped out of her musings by the cup of coffee Tsugumi put in front of her, with the usual cookie she was almost addicted to. She gave the brunette a small smile to thank her. Sayo was getting used to smiling naturally like that when she was with Tsugumi. It felt weird for a moment, but now she didn’t mind. She wanted to show her happiness to the woman too. “Thank you Hazawa-san.”

“You’re welcome Sayo-san.” Tsugumi prepared a hot chocolate for herself - she didn’t like coffee that much - and then sat next to Sayo. She just looked at the woman next to her while smiling. Sayo was really radiant, and her heart was always filled with happiness when she was around the teal-haired woman. She was glad she had a precious friend like her by her side. Managing the café was fun but sometimes it was hard. With Sayo in her life, everything seemed easier. She felt like she could do anything.

Sayo however stared at her coffee without drinking it. She was lost in her thoughts again, but this time it wasn’t good ones. She was wondering about talking to her past to Tsugumi. The woman was always here for her. They met each other almost everyday, and they had great moments together like this day. Sayo trusted Tsugumi; she was her closest friend now so she wanted to tell her about her past. But a part of her was scared the girl would push her away from her life after discovering how horrible Sayo really was.

Tsugumi noticed something was wrong. Sayo was always eager to drink her coffee or eat her cookie. Seeing her not touching any of them was odd. For a second she wondered if it would be good to ask what was wrong, feeling guilty to ask something too personal. However, she couldn’t leave her friend like that. She had to do her best for her. 

“Is something wrong Sayo-san?” Tsugumi finally asked, worried and concerned about Sayo.

Sayo now felt bad.  ‘Wonderful Sayo, you worried Hazawa-san’  She couldn’t help but sigh at herself for being this ridiculous and stupid. She finally took a sip of her coffee before looking at the brunette. She knew she couldn’t lie in those moments. Lies would only break everything, and Tsugumi was rather good to see when Sayo lied about her situation.

“I was just… thinking about something. Would you mind to hear? It’s… about my past.” Sayo paused for a moment, almost regretting saying those words. But it was done already so she could only pursue. “Before, I would like to warn you that it’s… not pleasant at all. And if you think it would change our relationship and make us distant, I would like to ask you to say no and to not listen.”

Tsugumi was a bit lost at Sayo’s sudden words. She never thought that something could change her relationship with Sayo and she was certain about this. To comfort the woman, she took one of Sayo’s hand and held it while answering. “Sayo-san, nothing will change my relationship with you, nor my feelings. If you want to talk about it, I will listen.”

“Hazawa-san…” Tsugumi’s kindness warmed Sayo’s heart again. She was ready to talk. It wasn’t something fun, but she wanted to tell Tsugumi about it. Maybe it would also help her to go forward and not be tied up to the past… She hoped it would.

“… I think I already told you I’m currently living alone. I’ve been living like this for five years.. A bit after that day…” Sayo breathed heavily, calming herself before speaking again. “Five years ago, my parents, my sister and I were planning to go to a hot spring inn for the weekend. Well, I wasn’t planning anything. They kind of forced me to come with them, a family trip you see… At this time, I wasn’t on good terms with my sister. She was energetic and she always wanted to do everything with me… But I was jealous and… especially frustrated because everything I was doing, she could do it better at the first try. She was ruining all my hard work all the time. I chose to play the guitar because it was something she didn’t do. Everyday, I would rehearse very hard in my bedroom. It became an habit and, I started to enjoy playing it. That day, there was a concert at the live house I enjoyed going, with a lot of different bands performing. I really wanted to go, so I argued with my parents a lot… We still ended up going together. But on the way…” She cut there. Not because she wanted to do a cliffhanger, but because she needed to catch her breath. Her hands started to be moist and trembling. Without thinking twice, she held Tsugumi’s hand a bit tighter. 

The brunette caught the sign and did the same thing back. She wanted to do her best to make Sayo comfortable telling her story. She couldn’t do much more than holding the woman’s hand. She then tried to show that she was there for the teal-haired girl. That she wasn’t alone. She caressed the back of Sayo’s hand with her thumb to comfort the woman even more.

Sayo appreciated the gesture a lot. It helped her calm herself, and she spoke again when she was ready “Thank you Hazawa-san…” She paused a second, trying to concentrate herself on her story. “On the way to the inn, we ran into trouble… My father was driving, and while we crossed a junction, a truck crashed into our car… My sister… she protected me… I was the only one getting away without severe injuries. My parents…” She had to pause again, it was hard to talk. She could feel a knot in her throat for a second and she was about to cry. She couldn’t let herself cry, not after everything she went through again. She was strong now, and she wasn’t alone… She breathed heavily for a second before continuing. “The both died… I… I can still see their dead bodies in my nightmares… They are haunting me because I survived without them and… because it was my fault. If I hadn’t been selfish that day, it wouldn’t have happened. My parents wouldn’t have died… My sister wouldn’t have stayed in coma for months…” She felt all the pain rushing through her body again. It was painful to talk and she couldn’t hold her tears any longer. She was horrible, crying in front of Tsugumi, but she couldn’t do anything. Tears kept rolling down her cheeks no matter what.

Tsugumi felt sad for Sayo, losing her family like this… It was horrible and she knew the teal-haired girl never deserved that. She also knew it wasn’t the girl’s fault at all. She wanted to comfort her and tell her that. That’s why, without thinking twice, she pulled Sayo into a warm hug while her right hand slowly petted Sayo’s head. She didn’t know what to say at all to comfort Sayo, but she did her best.

“It’s not your fault Sayo-san… You did nothing wrong… It wasn’t you who drove the truck. You didn’t control the traffic light either. You didn’t control the other people driving too. You did nothing wrong…”

Sayo cried a bit more in Tsugumi’s arms. But it felt much better to let everything out in the arms of someone close to you. She always cried alone before, and it never made her feel better afterward. She always felt worse… but today, just having Tsugumi comforting her, she didn’t feel like that. She could feel her pain leaving her side for a moment. It would certainly come back soon, but she wanted to appreciate this little moment without this heavy weight on her shoulder.

Some minutes passed, though it felt hours for the two girls. Sayo slowly regained her calm and her composure. She still hadn’t finished her story, even if most of it was told. She still wanted to tell it until the end.

“Thank you again Hazawa-san… It helped me a lot… Do you mind if I continue the story now?” Sayo asked. She didn’t want to say more if Tsugumi started to be uncomfortable. 

“You’re welcome Sayo-san. And of course you can continue. I will listen to it until the end I promise.” Tsugumi smiled warmly at Sayo while looking into the woman’s eyes. She hoped her comfort would reach Sayo.

And it did. Sayo smiled back before continuing her story. “So… My sister was bought at an hospital, and I was alone at my house… I couldn’t support the event. My grades started to drop. Fortunately, the last semester was already reaching its end when it happened, so I still graduated. However, I never went to college. I even cut all my ties with my family. I found my new place and never told my family. I changed my phone number too so they couldn’t contact me, especially the hospital. And I lived with money I earned from part-time jobs. I also started drinking and smoking… Almost every day was horrible. I had nightmares after nightmares and I filled my toilets with a lot of things from my stomach after those… hangover after hangover too… Meeting Imai-san helped a bit because she was always there to listen to me but… It was still horrible… Until I met you. It’s creepy like this but, when I met you at the bar, my life started to change. I forced myself to go to school because I told you I would go, but now that I really started school, I’m feeling better and better. So… Thank you for everything Hazawa-san, and I hope we can stay friends. After all, I can’t live without your coffee and cookies.” Sayo tried to lighten the mood by the end. She didn’t want to finish with how bad her life was so talking about her meeting with Tsugumi wasn’t bad. It made the atmosphere less sad, and also helped her sort her feelings. She also realized something during this day: maybe she had feelings for the brunette, she could finally accept that and not just staying in denial. However she would never change her relationship. She was fine the way it was already, and would never ask for more. She’d rather stay like this than try to ask for more and destroy everything.

Tsugumi was sad for most of the story, but hearing the end, she was glad she helped Sayo. She also enjoyed this first meeting. It was a wonderful night when she met Sayo. Even when the teal-haired woman left that day, she couldn’t stop talking or thinking about her the whole night. She could still remember how Lisa teased her the whole night with embarrassing things. She tried not to think about those things now, she really didn’t want to suddenly blush in front of Sayo for no reasons. 

“I’m happy I was able to help you that day. You really deserve to be happy and live a wonderful life Sayo-san! And I’m glad you’re going that way slowly~ I will do my best to support you until you reach the destination! And I hope I will be allowed to still stand next to you when it happens, because you’re a great friend to me!”

“I don’t know if I deserve someone like you in my life Hazawa-san, but since you are in my life already, I will do my best to appreciate you by my side. You can stay as long as you want.” 

Sayo couldn’t help but smile at Tsugumi’s word. She was happy she met her that day. And to keep her words, she would do her best to reach the destination. For now though, It might be a bit sudden to say that just after finishing talking about her past but she had to ask something to Tsugumi. She noticed earlier at the shopping mall something was wrong. Something about money. With her studies starting she had to stop going to her part-time job. Some of her work schedules were overlapping with her lessons at school and she couldn’t change her work schedule, so she decided to stop. However, she started to be out of money. She saved a lot from the last five years, but she didn’t want to use her saved money yet. It meant she had to find a way to get an income. The first thing she thought was to work at Tsugumi’s café. But she had to ask Tsugumi if she could. And she was a bit scared. She didn’t want to bother her friend again for her sake. But she wouldn’t lose anything just by asking…

“Hazawa-san… I was talking about my part-time job earlier… the truth is, with school, I had to quit. But I’m currently looking for a new one that would match my school schedule. Do you happen to know a place I could work?” Sayo wasn’t strong enough to ask if Tsugumi was looking for someone… But if the brunette knew a place, it would already help her a lot.

“Hmm… Actually, would you mind helping at my café? It won’t be everyday, but I could accept another person during the busy days! Is it enough for you if you don’t work everyday?” Tsugumi asked, a bit tensed. She wasn’t giving this place just because it was Sayo. She actually planned to ask someone else at first because she thought Sayo was busy enough. But if the girl wanted a job she could always ask her. She knew the woman was reliable.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to bother you.” Sayo was surprised by Tsugumi’s offer. Of course she wanted to work here, but she never expected the brunette to offer her a job here. She was almost suspecting her to do that to help her…

“I’m sure. I planned to employ someone actually. I didn’t ask you before because I thought you were busy enough. But if you don’t mind working here…” Tsugumi was happy. If Sayo was working here, it meant they would spend more time together. She was sure it would be fun.

“Alright. I accept.” Sayo didn’t consider the option twice. It was a great deal to work here. It was close to her school, and she was actually caming here everyday so it wouldn’t disrupt her schedule too much.

“Great! I will prepare the contract and everything for next time.” It has been so long since Tsugumi last worked with someone here. She was already looking forward to working with Sayo. She couldn’t hide her grin at all from how overjoyed she was.

Tsugumi and Sayo kept chatting about diverse topics for some moments until it was late and Sayo had to left. The teal-haired girl promised herself she would never forget this day. She still had doubt on her feelings, but she would look and walk forward, not focusing herself on the past anymore. She promised that to herself.


	4. New friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sayo's descent into NFO's hell!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! Again I'm so so sorry for the late update,,, I really hate proofreading so it's always taking a lot of time to get motivated! And I'm noticing that my writing style was really bad 5 months ago so I have to rework some stuff as much as I can without getting tired,, I hope you will still enjoy the story!!! Thank you for following this! <3

Sayo was at the library. Usually she would be at Tsugumi’s café tu study but today it was closed; Tsugumi was invited to do something related to the Mitake’s flower school Sayo barely knew about; she didn’t event remember the name of the school. She felt bad for not remembering but she never met this Ran Mitake, so she thought it should be fine. With the café closed, she had to find a place to work; she couldn’t work at her place at all. That was the reason why she was at the library. She also needed some documents so it was a good opportunity.

Sitting at a group table - all the individual tables were already taken - she took some more place on the table than she should to spread all the documents she needed. They were mostly books about music obviously. Sayo had to fill a file with a huge amount of questions. There were so many questions she wanted to curse the teacher who made that homework. Fortunately a lot were knowledges she already had before so she didn’t need to read too many books.

While working however, someone sat in front of her. She was alone earlier so she could spread the book on the table, but she wasn’t impolite. She started to gather the book but she was cut by a voice she knew well enough after around two months of school.

“Hi Sayo-san! Are you working hard? Let me see…” The voice belonged to Udagawa Ako. Sayo’s senior even though she was actually younger than her. The purple-haired girl really liked Sayo and found the girl interesting. It’s not everyday you can meet someone older than you and still two grades under you. And she also found it cool that Sayo was smoking and drinking. Her big sister never let her do anything like that even though she was old enough. Well, she sometimes drank at some parties but it wasn’t that much. She shouldn’t make bad stuff like that something cool, but she couldn’t help it.

“Udagawa-senpai…” Sayo couldn’t help but sigh. Sure Ako was her senior, but she was still childish for her. A cool yet childish person… She was sometimes bothered by the girl - just like now - and tried not to talk to her too much. But when Ako talked to her suddenly like that it was hard to dodge. She just talked back with the minimum amount of words. “It’s the library, you shouldn’t talk.”

“Oh, this homework, I remember it. It was a long raid.” Ako loved games; so much that sometimes she mixed real life expression or words with game expression - just like raid when she implied ‘difficult homework’. 

“… sure…” Sayo, meanwhile, didn’t know anything about games and never knew how to react when Ako was using those weird words. Each time she tried her best to guess them but she couldn’t. Maybe she really should made some research about those things one day. She needed to at least be able to communicate with her annoying senior… It could always be a good thing. 

“Oh yes! Sayo-san! Is that a new outfit? You look very cool in that!!” Ako wasn’t speaking quietly at all; she actually totally forgot she was in the library because of how cool Sayo was in front of her.

Sayo noticed everyone looking at them angrily. They were in a library after all and Ako was annoying everyone, especially her. Since she couldn’t push the girl away Sayo didn’t have any other choice… She put her stuff back in her bag while standing up and talking. 

“Udagawa-senpai, let’s go somewhere else.” Without waiting for an answer Sayo pulled Ako away. She put the stack of books from the library where she had to put them - she just had to put them on a shelf and didn’t have to put them back by herself - on the way and then made her way outside, being as quick as possible.

“S-Sayo-san?” Ako didn’t know how to react. She didn’t struggle of course and let the teal-haired woman pulling her outside. But it was strange suddenly. She hadn’t noticed people looking at her strangely at all. For her everything was normal until Sayo pulled her out by her arm.

Sayo walked toward the infirmary. She knew it would be safe there. After her time at school, she learnt that Ako and Rinko were close together so she would get a place to talk to Ako without bothering anyone. Unless the usually empty infirmary had an injured person today. Sayo could only know by checking inside, and so she did when she reached the room, not paying attention to Ako trying to talk to her.

“Hikawa-san?” Rinko, who was working on files, heard someone enter. Of course she looked at the door thinking it was someone who needed her. She only found Sayo who was looking around the room. Rinko didn’t know how to react at that at all. What was the girl doing? She didn’t seem injured… maybe another hangover?

“Empty… Good. Let’s go inside Udagawa-senpai” Sayo entered, still dragging Ako behind her. She wasn’t forcing the woman of course but she was still leading the way.

“S-Sayo-san why the infirmary?” Ako asked while entering but then she completely ignored Sayo and walked toward Rinko to hug her. She loved to nurse a lot and she missed her even though she played online yesterday night with her. “RinRin! Hi!!”

“Ako-chan? What is happening…?” Rinko was totally lost. The two girls entered the infirmary without any warning and they didn’t seem injured at all. She was used to Ako coming to see her often but it was rare for Sayo to come; especially with Ako.

“… Udagawa-senpai was talking to me and annoying everyone at the library so I guessed we could come here to-” Sayo tried to explain the situation to Rinko calmly, even if she wasn’t asked directly. However Ako cut her short to say something.

“Sayo-san is going to play NFO for the next event!” Ako stated as if she was saying she won the lottery. She was grinning happily while the two women were surprised by what Ako suddenly said.

“What?” Rinko asked, dumbfounded. She didn’t know Sayo was into games as well, it was surprising.

“Pardon me?” Of course Sayo couldn’t react any other way. She never said she would play anything with Ako. She didn’t even know where this was coming from. What is NFO anyway?

“Udagawa-senpai, what are you saying? I never said anything about that.” Sayo tried to defend her cause. Of course she never said anything about NFO; she was busy tidying her stuff at the library and then leading the way there.

“Eh? But on the way I was talking about the dark invasion of the sacred land and I asked you! Since you didn’t say no and didn’t have this ‘I don’t want that’ face, I thought it was a yes!” Ako didn’t really notice Sayo wasn’t concentrated on what she was saying; she looked serious after all. But she really needed Sayo to play with her. Rinko and her had been trying to recruit a new person for the event for one week, and it was starting very soon. There was a very rare item she could get with this event. Besides, it would be very fun to play with someone as cool as Sayo.

“A-Ako-chan… It’s not because she didn’t say no that’s it’s a yes. And it’s actually very bad to think like that…” Rinko tried to explain before Sayo could because she knew it was Ako’s fault. She wasn’t Ako’s mother of course but the woman had a precious place in her heart and she didn’t want Sayo to have an argument over something this small. Honestly thought.. Even in college, the purple-haired woman was very innocent about everything. It was hard to think she replaced Kaoru as the prince of Haneoka when the former graduated. Well… Rinko couldn’t disagree with Ako looking like a prince and sometimes she was really good at flirting… Even if she wasn’t aware of that.

“Yes… Shirokane-sensei is right. I never said yes…” Sayo was about to say much more before Rinko talked first. She was at least glad she wasn’t alone in this mess. Ako always confused her with her personality and her… lack of knowledge on some points. Maybe it was something a bit cute, but sometimes it was a bit confusing, just like now.

“Eeh? But I thought!” Ako was lost. Did she really mistake Sayo’s choice on her offer? It seemed so, but she still wasn’t sure why she would have thought otherwise. Sayo didn’t have the face that say no at this moment.

“Ako-chan… For an example… If someone asked you if you liked broccolis. You would have trouble to say no, but you wouldn’t say yes because you don’t want to feel not cool right? Then, what if the person takes this silence as a yes?” Rinko tried her best to explain to Ako why a silence wasn’t a yes. Her example was easy to understand and not very serious, but she knew it would be easier for Ako to understand it that way than with a serious topic.

“Ugh no broccolis please… I see now… Yes, always think a lack of answer is a no! Thank you Rinrin you’re always the best!” Ako grinned at the nurse. She understood now and won’t do this mistake again. She really loved how Rinko would explain everything to her when she was wrong or didn’t understand something; like her homework. That always made her heart beat faster when it happened and she couldn’t hold her happiness.

Sayo meanwhile smiled slightly. She was glad the issue was solved. No NFO thing for her. She sat on an available bed before talking. She stopped her homework and left the library so she didn’t want to have done that for nothing.

“So, Udagawa-senpai, why did you come talking to me? I don’t think it was only for my outfit.” She asked, curious but still serious for a real answer.

“Oh yes! The event!! Sayo-san we really need you to play NFO with us!” Ako reiterated her request to Sayo, looking at her with this pleading look that didn’t match her physical appearance at all. Rinko stayed quiet but she was looking at Sayo as serious as Ako. It seemed that she wanted a yes too… 

“I apologize, but I don’t do those things. I am busy enough as you could see at the library. And I’m not interested.” She actually wasn’t that busy and could do it if she managed her homework, but she wasn’t interested at all. She guessed only saying the latter wouldn’t work, that’s why she added the first reason.

“Please!! We really need someone and you are our last hope! Only once! I won’t ask you to play again after that! We just need a new player for the event and the items are really cool!” Ako did her best to persuade Sayo. She wanted to play this event with Rinko but couldn’t do it with only the two of them. They were both old players and therefore didn’t match the new player requirement. 

Sayo was about to refuse again, but she was cut by Rinko before even being able to speak.

“I would like to ask you too Hikawa-san. It will only be for some hours. I promise it won’t take long. We can’t do that alone, so can you help us?” Rinko also tried to convince the woman. She would only do that once because she really didn’t want to push the teal-haired girl but she also wanted to play the event so much. Asking once wouldn’t hurt.

Sayo pondered. She really didn’t think it was interesting but the two women she was a bit close in this school were asking her. She already owned Rinko so much for helping her with those hangovers and her insomnias during the first month. If she could repay her back with that. And it was only for some hours. Maybe she could accept… She could also be closer to them and learn about them more. Her first friends there… the idea wasn’t bad actually. With a small smile, she gave her answer.

“Alright. But only once. And you will have to find something for me, because I don’t have a computer powerful enough to play games.”

“Yatta!!!” Ako almost jumped on place. She was full of joy suddenly. She would be able to play the event with Rinko and she would be able to spend more time with the cool Sayo. She couldn’t be sad about that. While she was just happy about the situation, Rinko talked to answer Sayo.

“It’s alright… We can go at a cybercafé. I actually know a calm place with private rooms to play together. D-Do you have Line…?” She was feeling a bit awkward to ask that; she never asked someone’s their line id before. She just hoped she didn’t ask for something too personal and bothered Sayo. 

“Yes of course. Let’s share them.” Sayo pulled her phone from her pocket and opened the application. 

After sharing their Line ID, with Ako as well for Sayo, they planned a date for the event and a location to meet this day before going to the cybercafé. Sayo didn’t really notice it but she was actually looking forward for this day.

* * *

Sayo was walking with her phone in her hand. The map of the surrounding was showing on her screen with her destination near. She inputted the address Rinko sent to her few days ago of their meeting point. She made sure to prepare herself since she’d never gone to this part of the town before. She checked on the Internet the location beforehand as well as the train lines she needed to take. Right now she just walked out of the train station and was following the indications of her GPS application. She walked between the streets, looking around to check the way and remember it in case she came back.

She soon arrived at her destination. Rinko and Ako were already here even though she was also early. She hoped she didn’t make them wait too long even though she wasn’t late. While walking close to them, she called them out.

“Udagawa-senpai, Shirokane-sensei, good afternoon.” She said, finally standing in front of them. She was wearing her now favourite blue dress; the one she fell in love during her shopping session with Tsugumi. “I’m sorry for making you wait.”

“N-no… it’s alright Hikawa-san…” Rinko said first. She was a bit surprised with Sayo’s outfit. She looked very stunning. Rinko felt like she wasn’t really good looking next to the student. She didn’t say anything about the outfit, too embarrassed to compliment Sayo.

Ako, however, didn’t hesitate. “Sayo-san you’re so beautiful!! This dress looks so good on you! Did you dress yourself up to beat the ass of those low monsters?” She was so excited already that she was gazing at the woman a lot. She didn’t seem to mind having waited for Sayo with this reaction.

“A-ah thank you Udagawa-senpai” Sayo blushed slightly but also smiled. She was really glad it suited her this well. Even with Tsugumi’s opinion she was still a bit tensed to wear it outside. Now she was glad she chose it. The dress was beautiful but also comfortable. She must say though… Ako’s enthusiasm didn’t quite match her look sometimes. She looked like an adult with a childish personality. Not that she minded too much actually. Now wasn’t the time to think about that. She didn’t come to get complimented but to try this NFO thing. “It’s just casual clothes though. We should go now.”

“Y-Yes let’s go.” Rinko said before leading the way. She chose a meeting point very close to the cybercafé so they didn’t have to walk for too long. However, Ako was still asking a lot of questions to Sayo. The teal-haired girl was a bit annoyed at first but she ended up answering everything genuinely. She felt closer to Ako after talking, even a bit. She learnt to know her and she told a bit more about herself. She still didn’t talk about the accident so when she was asked about the drinking or smoking part she tried to stay vague, just saying it was because of depression; which wasn’t totally false.

They finally arrived at the place. The inside wasn’t as big as Sayo expected. Around ten computers were in the room; with most of them available. She also noticed a hallway a bit further with some doors. She guessed it was the private room Rinko talked about at the infirmary. The most surprising part was the tables around the room with customers drinking coffee or other drinks. She thought cybercafé were only for playing computer but it seemed like people could also come like a regular café. She found the place relaxing but she still preferred Tsugumi’s café.

Rinko — who Sayo thought was shy with people — talked to the person who seemed to be the one in charge of the place. 

“I made a reservation for today, is the room free?”

“Oh Shirokane-san. And Udagawa-san too. Good afternoon! Let me check” The guy was typing things on a keyboard while looking at a screen. Sayo couldn’t really see what he was doing but she supposed he was checking if the room was free. Her assumption was confirmed soon after.

“Yes, it’s free! Have fun!” He said with a smile to Rinko, and the woman smiled back.

“Thank you!!! Let’s go now Rinrin!! The darkness is waiting for us!” Ako said and pulled Rinko by the arm enthusiastically. She couldn’t wait to play with the two women. Though she didn’t know the room so she let Rinko guide her at the end.

Sayo just bowed to greet the owner and then followed the two girls. She couldn’t help but smile at how close they were and she hoped that maybe she could be close to them. She wasn’t particularly looking for friends but she knew it might be good for her. She didn’t remember the last time she had friends; other than Tsugumi and Lisa. Did she have friends during high school? She couldn’t remember. But she didn’t mind, she was living her life now.

The three girls soon entered the private room. Inside were three computers with what Sayo thought were very nice setups with how fancy and comfortable they looked. There was also a couch and a coffee table, maybe to eat snacks or drink during a break? Rinko didn’t have the time to explain anything to Sayo that the purple-haired girl already sat in front of a computer and was logging into NFO.

“Hikawa-san… do you know anything about games?” Rinko asked. She was ready to explain everything to Sayo but maybe the teal-haired girl knew things already.

“Not really. But I made an account on NFO beforehand. I could at least do that to prepare for today.” Sayo said while sitting in front of a computer, Rinko standing next to her. She quickly spotted the NFO icon on the desktop and launched the game.

“I suppose making you play directly will be the best thing… you seem to be a fast learner too Hikawa-san…” Rinko took the chair that was in front of her computer to sit next to Sayo. From there, Rinko guided the woman through the menu and then through the character creation. She tried to detail all the classes possible: their difficulty, their gameplay and everything that could be told.

After struggling to decide for a long time, Sayo finally chose to play a paladin. All of the classes were attractive but the paladin looked nice to play; and Rinko told her it wasn’t too hard too. Her character looked a lot like her but it was good like that. When she was finally done she logged into the game. Rinko went back to her computer to log into the game as well.

The game could finally start for Sayo. It was hard to understand all the gameplay at the beginning: how to use skills and how to play efficiency. But the more she played, the more she was used to the keybinds and the gameplay. Rinko’s advice were also really helpful and soon enough, she could play without being a dead weight for the group. It was fun. She didn’t want to admit it at first - especially when she was struggling - but it really was a good game. She was getting into it so easily. She also wasn’t alone but with two game partners. She felt even closer to them and from time to time, they talked together about things not related to the game. 

During their chatting, Sayo learnt that Rinko and Ako were actually a couple. She didn’t know how to feel about it but she found it really cute. They actually suited each other. Rinko was always calm and could always understand anything Ako said. And the purple-haired girl - even with her weird personality - always got right things about Rinko. Sayo noticed quickly how close those two were so it wasn’t a shocking surprise. She also learnt how Ako confessed while doing a kabedon in public, and just thinking about the idea of being confessed in public Sayo felt so embarrassed. She now hoped if someone wanted to confess to her they wouldn’t do it in public. 

She learnt things but she also told the two women some things about herself too. She told them a bit more about her depression period; still hiding the accident part. She also told them about some places she was fond of; but here again she didn’t give any details. She didn’t want to find one of them there suddenly, especially not Lisa’s bar. She kept the fact on her vague but she still opened more to them, little by little. It was actually hard for her. With Tsugumi, it was so natural she didn’t even notice they grew close to each other like that. But with Rinko and Ako it was a bit harder. She was more self-aware about her weird life and how pathetic she was. Ito was also a bit harder since Ako was supposed to be her senior and Rinko is the school nurse. Tsugumi is more equal in the social ladder for Sayo, she felt closer to the brunette since the beginning. But right now the wner of the café wasn’t in the room, so she tried not to think about her too much and kept playing.

The event wasn’t bad either. It was about rescuing a guy kidnapped by a monster and brought into a sort of castle in ruin. Even though the story was a bit cliché it was still entertaining and interesting. She found the story well told. They slowly advanced in the dungeon — the castle was the dungeon — until they arrived in front of the last boss. The fight wasn’t easy of course but Sayo had so much fun with the two other girls. She had to defend the best she can and dodge the attacks of the boss if she didn’t want anyone to die. Even though it wasn’t easy, she succeeded in her task to protect everyone and she couldn’t help but smile when the monster finally died. It left behind some chests and Sayo opened them all, being curious about the content.

Soon after opening it, a screen with a list of the loot is displayed and Ako suddenly speaks loudly and excitedly. 

“Waa that’s the loots I wanted!!!! Especially the staff!!” She looks at her screen as if she won the lottery, and then turns to Sayo and Rinko with pleading eyes. “Can I have it…? Please!!!”

Sayo couldn’t hold her laugh seeing the tall girl pleading like that, it was really fun. It was a strange feeling, laughing like that suddenly. But it wasn’t bad, it felt great for her. She felt herself like when she spent time with Tsugumi. 

“Of course you can Udagawa-senpai” she finally answered when she stopped laughing.

“Yes… Go on Ako-chan” Rinko also answered, smiling warmly at her girlfriend. She found the girl very cute when she was excited like that just for loots. She pressed the ‘skip’ button on her screen for all the loots. She didn’t need any of them actually. But it was really fun to play with the two women, she hoped she could play more…

Ako almost jumped from her chair when the two girls accepted, ignoring Sayo’s laugh. She quickly pressed the ‘need’ button on the screen, and of course she got everything she wanted. She couldn’t be happier — Well, except when she was alone with Rinko — and quickly equipped the new gears she got.

“Look Rinrin I’m so cool!! Fufu, the princess of darkness is getting new power to rule on her kingdom!” Ako took a weird pose while saying that but she thought it was a cool one! Rinko was used to that so she only giggled, but Sayo was shocked for a second. She didn’t say anything about that and resumed playing.

“Let’s play a bit more…” Rinko proposed. She really didn’t want to stop right now and the two girl agreed with her. Sayo was into it much more than she thought she would, and she genuinely didn’t want to stop playing now. She didn’t know when she would be able to play again after all so she might play as much as possible today.

The three girls played the game for another hour or so before they had to leave. Rinko had another appointment she couldn’t postpone. She wanted to play more but couldn’t do so. Ako and Rinko left together and Sayo was left alone. She decided to go back home for today, having nothing else to do outside. This day was really fun she hoped she would be able to play again one day… She suddenly got an idea in her mind.

“Maybe I could do that…” With this idea in her mind, she walked toward the train station.

* * *

Some days later, Sayo opened the door of Tsugumi’s café. She started to work there soon after the event during the shopping date and today was one of her work day. She still had some time before starting her shift so she planned to study a little. However, when she raised her head to look at Tsugumi she saw two more people she knew very well…

“Udagawa-senpai? Shirokane-sensei? Why are you here?” Sayo asked, raising an eyebrow quizzically. She never saw them before, even though she was coming almost everyday. That’s why she was really surprised to see them here today.

Tsugumi was the first one to talk after spotting Sayo. She was actually about to talk first but the woman was faster to talk. “Ah, Sayo-san! Welcome! You’re early today. We were currently talking about you~”

“About me?” Again another question. She walked closer to the counter and eyed Tsugumi, as well as the two other girls. What would they talk about involving her? For a second she suddenly froze, thinking about the worse.  ‘Don’t tell me Hazawa-san talked to them about my past…’ To  Sayo’s pleasure, her worries were quickly dismissed by Ako talking.

“Sayo-san, hehe you could have told me you were playing NFO by yourself! We could have played together!” The purple-haired was grinning at Sayo. She had a way to know Sayo was playing alone. She noticed that yesterday. And seeing Sayo’s surprised face was really fun. She really did surprise her.

“H-How do you know?” Her secret was already busted. Actually, after leaving the cybercafé she really wanted to continue playing. So as soon as she was back home she turned her poor computer on so as to order a brand new one; powerful enough to be able to run the game without trouble. She bought it with some of the saved money she put aside during the last five years. She wasn’t expecting to be found out not even a day after she received her computer.

“Actually… we are friend in game so… we can see when our friends are online… yesterday, we spot you online when we were playing.” Rinko explained before Ako could brag. But she was happy the teal-haired woman started playing again. She felt closer to Sayo after this session at the cybercafé and wished they could play together again.

“I see… Then I can’t hide it. I bought a new computer to play at home yes.” There was no point in hiding the truth so Sayo was direct. She noticed Rinko’s smile and she smiled back before she noticed Ako’s huge grin. She could feel a shiver running down her spine from this grin. She had to change the topic now. She looked at Tsugumi and… yeah she could do that.

“By the way, how do you know this place?” She thought it was a nice diversion but Ako’s grin never disappeared… she did a mistake there.

“Fufu, my big sister is Tsugu-chin’s best friend! Of course I know this place!” She could brag about knowing Tsugumi and about her cool big sister, Ako couldn’t be as happy as that. She loved her sister so much she wanted to talk about her as much as possible. And since she never had the opportunity to tell Sayo before, now she could and she would brag about her! Unfortunately, she was cut by Tsugumi before she could say anything.

“Hehe yes, Ako-chan is Tomoe-chan’s little sister. I didn’t know you were friend with her though. Hehe what a nice coincidence.” Tsugumi explained before giggling. She found it cute that she and Sayo started to share some friends other than Lisa. She was happy about that… and also about the fact that Sayo was finally making friend with people at school. She heard Sayo saying she didn’t need friends more than once and she was a bit sad about those words. That’s why seeing that the woman now had friends was warming Tsugumi’s heart. This heart she once thought would stay cold could find some warmth again since Sayo arrived in her life… she was filled with joy…

“I see… Well it can’t be helped. Since you are here I’d like to ask you some things about-” For a moment, Sayo cut herself. She was about to talk about the game in front of Tsugumi… Was it a good idea? She was afraid the brunette would think weirdly of her or something. To her pleasure Tsugumi’s smile never changed. So she kept talking while sitting. “About the game…”

“Sure, what do you want to know Hikawa-san?” Rinko’s teacher and gamer soul woke up inside her. She really loved helping people about games, and in general. That wasn’t for nothing that she chose to be a nurse, albeit only a school nurse. She wanted to help people. She chose to be a school nurse instead of a nurse at a hospital because of how shy she is around people. The atmosphere at school was less tense.

“Actually…” Sayo started to explain her issues she met yesterday about the game. They may be simple things but she wanted to understand it well. She was so serious about just a game that Tsugumi and even Ako were giggling together. At some point Tsugumi served the usual coffee to Sayo and the girl thanked her before continuing her intense chat with Rinko.

Tsugumi was just admiring Sayo talking. She was really cute when she was into something, like her homework or now talking about games. Her heart felt warm again looking at the woman, and she couldn’t look away. Until she was forced to snap out of her musings by Ako’s statement.

“Tsugu-chin, you look rather intensely at Sayo-san, are you two a couple?” She asked innocently while grinning. She really found the two women cute together and she noticed there was something.

However, Sayo and Tsugumi didn’t take this sentence very innocently. Actually, Sayo almost shocked on her coffee with it going down the wrong way. She had a coughing fit that lasted for seconds while Tsugumi blushed furiously.

“A-Ako-chan that’s not like that!!” Tsugumi tried to defend herself but with how flustered she was it was clearly impossible. Besides, she didn’t know why she felt like this. They were just friend she should blush like this, should she?

At least Sayo was here to defend them. When she was done coughing after being surprised like that, she glanced at Ako. “Udagawa-senpai, we are not dating. And I’d like you to not assume things this important.”

Sayo’s words were sharp to Ako and she quickly stopped that. “Alright… I won’t do that anymore I’m sorry…” She was regretting what she said but she didn’t want to make her friends uncomfortable again. She accepted the little scolding easily and moved on to something else, not wanting to keep the weird atmosphere. “By the way Sayo-san! We should play together again!”

“… sure” Sayo relaxed with those words from Ako. She felt her heart almost exploding when she stated the couple thing. She was glad her new friend wouldn’t do that again. Her heart wouldn’t be able to support something like that again. But she found Tsugumi really cute when she was flustered… She kept thinking about Tsugumi while answering Ako and talking to the three girls. It was nice to spend some time like this from time to time… If she was told one year ago that she would spend her time with friends at this nice place, she wouldn’t have trusted those words, but now she was here.

She kept talking until it was the time for her shift. While she was changing into her uniform — it was matching Tsugumi’s and she loved this idea a lot for some reasons — the couple, Ako and Rinko, left the café to do some stuff together. Sayo guessed it was mostly playing again. She then did her work seriously until the end of the day.

It was another nice thing happening to her that she would treasure forever…


	5. I'm back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sayo thought she would never touch her guitar again.. but only simple words from one dear person was enough to change her mind

Another month later, Sayo and Ako were on school break for a week. The teal-haired woman appreciated this break a lot since she could relax a little from school. College wasn’t bad but still tiring after all. As usual when she wanted to relax those last months she was at Tsugumi’s café. At this point it was almost her second home. She wasn’t alone; her senior friend was here with her. Rinko couldn’t be there for school work; she was still working even during the break. Ako was making most of the conversion and the other two girls were just listening; sometimes answering.

“… And then! Onee-chan proposed to jam together again! And it was so fun! Onee-chan is the coolest when she plays the drums! I wish I could be as cool as her!” Ako was talking about her favourite — and only actually — sister. She really loved Tomoe and could talk about her for years. She was her model in her life and she aimed to look as cool as her.

“I think you are already cool Ako-chan” Tsugumi just spoke her mind. Those moments when she got flustered around Ako sometimes couldn’t lie: the woman was cool. She was her friend and younger than her but she still thought she was very cool. Actually it was because she was her friend that she could say her feelings easily like that.

“I wouldn’t say the contrary…” Sayo added. She didn’t want to admit it but Ako had a cool appearance. No wonder Rinko fell from her. She then grabbed her cup of coffee after speaking and drank a bit of the beverage. It was so tasty as usual. She even skipped her breakfast coffee lately; only eating a slice of bread with an orange juice so as to not pass out from hunger. She then came here as soon as possible and ate a good breakfast with Tsugumi’s confections and beverage.

“You think so? I am going to work even harder to be as cool as Onee-chan!!” Ako was excited; not that it was weird for anyone. She would do her best to be like her big sister.  ‘Alright!! Tonight let’s practice even more!!’ She was ready to practice the drums even more than usual today, she was motivated.

“Good luck Ako-chan! I’m sure you can do it.” Tsugumi encouraged the girl to reach her goal. Her own couldn’t be reached at all, it was impossible, so she just hoped her friends would reach their. It hurt a bit to know she wouldn’t be able to get her feelings through someone nor being able to feel this happiness again like when she was on stage when she was still in a band…

Sayo just listened to the two girls talking. After drinking some swallows of the coffee, she put the cup back in front of her and slowly ate the cake… It was a chocolate cake and it was really delicious. She felt the texture melting in her mouth and the savour exploding inside and overwhelming her for a second. She snapped out of her musings just before Ako talked again.

“Oh yeah Tsugu-chin! Are you still playing the keyboard? I really loved hearing you playing!” Ako asked enthusiastically. She was thinking about her sister’s drums and then linked that to Tsugumi’s piano. She really thought the brunette was good at the piano and was hoping she would have the opportunity to hear her playing again one day.

“Hmmm, not really… unfortunately, I’m too busy with work and everything I’m doing to play… I kind of practice alone when I have some free time but it’s not often.” Tsugumi was a bit sad. The piano was a big part of her life but she had to stop playing since she had taken over the café. She missed playing it.

“I see… And you Sayo-san! Do you play an instrument? Hehe I’m sure it’s something super cool since you always look cool!” Ako asked Sayo this time. She didn’t want to push Tsugumi more knowing it was hard for the brunette sometimes with all the work she had to do. Besides, she also wanted to know more about Sayo. They started to hang out pretty often since the cybercafé event but she still didn’t know that much about the teal-haired woman. If she didn’t ask Sayo wouldn’t say a lot about her.

“I actually used to play the guitar. But I’m not playing it anymore.” Sayo answered while trying to stay vague again. It was something involving her sister and she didn’t want to bring this topic now. It was already hard to listen to Ako idolizing her Tomoe, so talking about her sister in the same day, she was clearly not ready for that yet.

“Ooh! It’s cool!! I wanna hear you play Sayo-san!!!” Ako asked, trying to check if her friend could at least play once for her! She didn’t want to force Sayo but she lost nothing asking. Unfortunately she didn’t get the answer she wanted.

“I said I’m not playing anymore Udagawa-senpai, so no.” Sayo answered. The way she worded it could have sounded rough but her tone was soft. She wasn’t the kind of girl to be mean to her friend easily. She knew words could hurt more than people thought, so she always tried not to make people think things she didn’t meant.

“Awh… I wanted to hear you again… It’s too bad, I’m sure you would have looked really cooll!!” Ako said, a bit disappointed she couldn’t hear Tsugumi nor Sayo play their instrument again but she didn’t want to push them more. It would be selfish of her. And inside her, she guessed they would play again one day. She couldn’t explain that, but she felt it.

“I also wanted to hear you Sayo-san… but I won’t push you of course, I accept the fact that you stopped playing!” Tsugumi stated while smiling sadly. She was curious of how Sayo was playing the guitar but she wouldn’t be able to hear it at all if the woman didn’t want to play again. She accepted that, albeit a bit reluctantly and sadly.

“I’m sorry… I just… stopped for personal reasons.” She didn’t detail more. The personal reasons were mostly about the accident and about her sister. Although she didn’t know about Sayo’s sister and couldn’t know this reason, Tsugumi could guess about the accident part.

“It’s okay, I can understand it, don’t worry Sayo-san. Right Ako-chan?” Tsugumi tried to bring the atmosphere up after this sad moment. She preferred seeing Sayo with a smile rather than a sad face. She thought Sayo was radiant with a smile on her face after all, even more than the sun.

“Yes! I’m a bit sad I can’t hear you, but I would never push you to do something Sayo-san!! Though it’s sad we can’t form a band together then…” Ako tried to comfort Sayo too. She could feel the mood down suddenly after bringing Sayo’s guitar and she felt a bit responsible about that. So she wanted to make sure her friend wouldn’t feel bad about what she did.

“Thank you. But what do you mean by a band?” Sayo asked quizzically. She was curious about what ideas Ako had in mind this time. The purple-haired girl always hard strange idea so maybe this one was also unexpected. However, it was a normal one for once.

“You know!! Like what Tsugu-chin was with Afterglow! People playing together and being cool together on stage!!” Ako was excited again to explain her idea! It was one of her dream to be in a band with cool people and do like her sister did with Afterglow. She didn’t want to join her sister’s band though, she wanted to be in her own with friends she liked a lot! Like Sayo or Rinko.

“I see. However, even if I was still playing the guitar, I wouldn’t have the level to be into a band, I apologize.” Sayo apologized. It had been five years since she didn’t touch her guitar, she didn’t even remember the last time she touched it, the last song she played, nothing. If she wanted to play it again, she might had to start from scratch again. She didn’t have the time nor the will to do so. She couldn’t remember her level but she was sure she would never have enough skill to be into a band. 

“Sayo-san… It might sound weird but… After all my experience in a band, I’d say the best thing is to have fun with your friends. Yes you can feel horrible at yourself sometimes when you miss a note, and think you could have practiced even more. But those moments of joy on scene, when everyone is doing their best, is irreplaceable. So, don’t look down on yourself like this. Hehe besides, I’m sure you’re better than you think!” Tsugumi tried to comfort Sayo with her own experience. Sure she had moments with her friends when they argued, and she even felt the band would collapse. But they always made up and they were always closer than before after those arguments. It was nice… She missed her friends and her band, and she wanted to play again with people… Her heart ached just thinking about that, even though she knew she shouldn’t feel like that anymore she couldn’t stop it. So, she tried to change the topic, anything would work. It seemed that Sayo found one before however.

“Oh it’s already this late. Thank you for those words Hazawa-san, it means a lot to me… Unfortunately, I have to leave you now, I need to do something… Let’s see each other tomorrow.” Sayo stood up and tidied her stuff before she left the place. She didn’t forget to wave at her friends and say good bye before leaving of course.

Now, she had something she needed to do… She didn’t plan to do it ever again, and never planned to do that until some minutes ago.  ‘Maybe…’  Tsugumi wanted to hear her playing the guitar. Those words shook Sayo’s determination. She wanted to try again. So, when she reached her home she finally took her guitar in her hands after five years… It was still as beautiful as ever, except for the strings that looked horrible. But Sayo couldn’t help but smile. She could feel the feelings she left behind her with the accident. The joy of playing the guitar. It was still weak but she could feel it again, just with those few words from the brunette. It was really strange but Sayo didn’t find this effect weird anymore. She was used to being pushed from behind by Tsugumi…

“I’m sorry I left you behind all this time… I’m back now.”

* * *

The next day, as she said yesterday, she was going back to the cafe. She was looking at her fingers while walking to the place. She had to put some bandaids on them with how injured they were after her intense guitar rehearsal. After this long without playing, she was already prepared to get injured like this. At least it wasn’t hurting and she was still in school break so it wasn’t bothering her too much.

She finally reached the place and opened the door to enter. Just by stepping inside she could smell the nice aroma of the coffee. This was great. She then spotted Tsugumi and greeted her.

“Good morning Haza-” Sayo started to talk but she stopped when she noticed the brunette was busy with someone. It was rare for this place to have customers this early in the morning… but she didn’t say anything; she was glad Tsugumi had more customers. But something seemed wrong… Without saying much more, Sayo walked toward her usual spot at the counter.

“Ah, good morning Sayo-san! The usual?” Tsugumi asked Sayo when she spotted her sitting. She was too into talking to her old friend that she didn’t notice earlier and felt a bit bad for that. She hoped she didn’t make Sayo feel bad.

“Good morning Hazawa-san. And yes, if possible.” Sayo smiled at Tsugumi. She was happy when the brunette said ‘the usual’ for her order. It felt like she really was close to the girl. Although she was already close to someone like this before — namely Lisa — she didn’t feel like that with the bartender. Tsugumi was always making her feel different things, it wasn’t bad.

“Alright, I will be quick!” Tsugumi grinned back, happy Sayo didn’t seem sad for earlier, and she started to work carefully on the coffee. Preparing it with even more feelings than her other customer. It might be not fair but she liked it that way. Sayo’s smile when she was drinking her coffee was her treasure.

“Sayo…? Is that your name?” The stranger girl looked at Sayo while asking this question.

“Yes, why?” Sayo still had a bad feeling about the girl… She felt like she knew this girl. She stayed on guard about her answers and did her best to be as vague as possible, like not saying her last name.

“Oh! Onee-chan?! Is that you?!” The girl asked with a very joyful tone.

Sayo froze for a moment hearing that and her face went pale. She tried her best to keep her composure.

“I’m sorry but it must be a mistake.” Sayo was starting to be tensed. She was feeling pressured by the girl. She was exactly like her sister but it couldn’t be her right? She did her best to run away from her family and cut all the ties. She couldn’t have been found by her sister. If it was really her sister then she could say goodbye to her current life… everything she tried to build those last few months would be destroyed.

“Eeeh, but it’s me! Hina! Hikawa Hina!” Hina revealed herself while gazing at Sayo.

Sayo is shocked for a moment, she can’t move. Her whole body froze. It was it, she was her sister, she had been found. She felt all the world around her collapsing while her body was trembling a little. She did her best to keep her composure but it was really hard. She was glad Tsugumi wasn’t looking at her right now; the brunette would have definitely noticed her behaviour right now.  ‘Quick Sayo, find an excuse’  She did her best to find something to say, and spoke aloud as soon as she found an idea.

“… I told you, it must be a mistake.” Sayo almost wanted to hit herself right now. It was the worst thing to say. It was her own sister in front of her, she knew Hina would definitely not accept those words. She isn’t dumb, on the contrary. At least she was happy Tsugumi followed her just after.

“Well Hina-senpai, if she says it’s a mistake, maybe it really is.” Tsugumi chimed in. She did notice Sayo for a second and didn’t like how it started to turn. She decided to stay something to stop Hina from bothering Sayo too much for now. She couldn’t let her friend be uncomfortable.

“Hmm well maybe yes… I’m sorry I bothered you.” Hina apologized before stopping thinking about that at all. She went back to sip her drink: a glass of orange juice.

“It’s alright…” Sayo tried to breath out as discreetly as possible. She was relieved Hina didn’t bother her more, and was glad Tsugumi helped her. However, she found it weird Hina didn’t push her more. It wasn’t her style to stop when she had something in mind… Besides, it was certain she was her twin sister, why did she stop.

Sayo’s thoughts were interrupted when Hina’s phone rang. The short-haired woman took it from her pocket to check the message she received. The message was from her manager. Just seeing this detail was enough to make her in a hurry. She was actually late for her job today with pastel*palettes.

“Ah, I’m late for my job! I’m sorry Tsugu-chan! I will be back another day! See you.” In a hurry, she finished her glass, took her coat and rushed outside. She didn’t have the time to say something else and hoped it was enough.

Sayo didn’t stop staring at Hina until she was out of her sight. She looked through the windows and saw her running in a direction she knew well. It seemed that her sister went outside and toward the train station. However, she wasn’t really interested more and went back to her coffee. She didn’t want to be involved with her sister again so she was glad the girl didn’t push further.

“Are you alright Sayo-san?” Tsugumi noticed Sayo was in her thoughts and didn’t look that great, so she was worried. She tried to call her out to see if it was serious or not.

“Hm? Oh, yes I am.” Sayo snapped out of her bad thoughts when Tsugumi called her and she smiled a bit at the brunette. She could feel the girl was worried for her. Sayo appreciated this from the brunette but she didn’t want her to worry too much after all.

“… you don’t look alright, but if you say so I trust you.” Tsugumi felt a bit useless, she couldn’t help her close friend. But she didn’t want to push her either. She was stuck, so she decided to respect Sayo’s decision and didn’t ask again. It would be rude for her to push Sayo to tell her why she was feeling wrong and she didn’t want to break her trust and her relationship.

“Thank you. More importantly, how did you meet this person? Isn’t she this guitarist in the idol band or something?” Sayo tried to change the topic a bit but she was sure a bit curious about how Tsugumi and Hina met. She did call her ‘Hina-senpai’, so their relationship seemed to be more than friends but she couldn’t guess what it was. She wanted to know more about Tsugumi and maybe a bit about Hina…

“Hina-senpai? We were together during highschool! She was the president of our student council. She is a bit weird but inside she is really hard working. It’s a bit sad she seems to have lost her memories after an accident.” Tsugumi felt bad for Hina because she lost her memories… Tsugumi could remember all her memories from school: with Afterglow, but also with Lisa and with Hina. It was really fun and she missed those days. If she was asked some months ago if she would like to go back there, she would have said yes. Now, she wasn’t sure. If going back to high school would mean losing Sayo, she didn’t want that. The teal-haired woman was too precious to her after all.

“… she lost her memories?” Sayo was shocked, and it was still a weak word. She did know Hina had some trouble after the accident, like the coma part. But she never knew she lost her memories… And during all this timeshe pushed her away… she really was the worst. Maybe her sister was alone? Maybe she also didn’t remember her family and was without a family? Just thinking about it, her heart ached. She wasn’t fond of her sister but she was still her only close family left. She should just stop being a coward and selfish. 

“Yes, hmmm, around five years ago?” Tsugumi never linked Sayo and Hina accident. She thought they were both different. There was a large amount of people on Earth after all it wouldn’t be too uncommon to meet two people who had an accident the same year?

“..!” Sayo could make the link, after all she was here with Hina. And she suddenly thought she couldn’t leave her sister alone anymore. She was the worst. She just wanted to be away from her sister all this time for stupid reasons while Hina never stopped looking for her even after losing her memories. Sayo suddenly hated herself for lying earlier. She had to fix that. “I will be back soon.” She left in a hurry and tried to chase after Hina. She knew Hina was going toward the train station so she ran as fast as she could to this direction. Fortunately, after some minutes she caught her with her sister. She was dead tired and tried to catch her breath as much as possible but she couldn’t leave her sister like this… However, she really didn’t know what to do at all now… She just called her out.

“Hina!!” Sayo shouted, getting the attention of the people around her and not only her sister’s.

“Hm?” Hina turned around after hearing her name and noticed the woman from earlier from the café. She grinned a little, but was curious why she suddenly ran after her. “Oh, you are the girl from before… hmm Sayo-san I think?”

“Yes that’s me.” Sayo stepped closer. She was still trying to find something to say, anything would work. Suddenly, she had a revelation. Her guitar. She started playing it to beat Hina. And, sure she was locking her door all the time to not let Hina see her, but she was almost sure her sister already listened to her more than once. She could do that. She proposed something to Hina. “Next week, same hour, at Hazawa café. I will be waiting for you.” She stated, determined to help her sister a little and not run away anymore from her. She was done with her shit.

“Eh? Hmm alright sure… If you insist.” Hina didn’t know how to feel. The girl wasn’t her sister, she wasn’t really interested to come… Maybe she wouldn’t come, she didn’t know.

“Good. I promise it will be… ‘boppin’” with that, Sayo left before Hina could ask her further thing. She knew it was Hina’s own word though, so she was sure it would strike her curiosity now. And she wasn’t wrong.

Hina is left dumbfounded by that last word. It was her word, but how could the woman know it if she wasn’t her sister. It couldn’t be a coincidence at all. Her curiosity was calling for her now and she was looking forward to meeting her again next week. But for now, she had an interview to do. With a grin on her face, she resumed walking toward the train station, happier than before.

* * *

During last week, Sayo practiced her guitar a lot. School resumed but she still practiced as soon as she had free time. The first days, she rehearsed so much her fingers were in a really bad state and she needed bandaids. Gradually, it became better. She was catching up with her previous level very fast; thanks to muscle memory. She still hadn’t reached her previous skill but it was enough to play what she picked.

Today was finally the day to meet with Hina again. Sayo was both tensed and excited. She actually didn’t know how to feel. She didn’t regret asking Hina to come but a part of her was still scared to be close to someone from her family again. What if something happen again… She tried to chase those thoughts out of her mind as she opened the door of the café. Tsugumi’s greeting was making her feel less tensed and far better than before.

“Sayo-san! Good morning! Hehe I knew you would come around this time so I’m almost done with your coffee already! Sit down~” Tsugumi started to be so used to Sayo’s usual visit time that when it was early in the morning, she was preparing the woman’s coffee a bit earlier so that she didn’t have to wait. A coffee served quicker meant she could see Sayo’s smile earlier!

Hina waved enthusiastically at Sayo when she noticed the teal-haired girl entering the café. “Hey! I’m here like you asked me! I hope it really going to be boppin” She was excited. However, she still didn’t know how to call Sayo. Was she her sister? Was she not? She thought she was but she didn’t want to make things uncomfortable again so she didn’t call her at all.

Sayo put her guitar case next to her, leaning it against the wall before she sat at her usual place. At the same time, Tsugumi brought the woman her coffee and noticed the guitar case she didn’t notice earlier. She looked at it quizically while serving Sayo.

“What is it Sayo-san?” Tsugumi didn’t know what happened with Sayo and Hina last week, so she was unaware of the deal. Moreover, the guitar case was rectangular, so she couldn’t really guess what it was for. She was left with questions and Sayo didn’t answer her yet.

“Something for Hina. Well, I’m not planning to give it to her, but do something with it instead.” Sayo wanted to keep the surprise for the end. It was certainly for Hina first, but she picked the song she was going to play for Tsugumi as well. At least she hoped the brunette would like it too, her skills were still lacking so she was a bit tensed she would only hurt her.

“Ooh!!” Hina is excited now! She wanted the woman to do the surprise now. She was free for some more time of course, but the sooner the better. After all she was curious what she planned to do since she didn’t really know either what Sayo planned. “Do it now, do it now!!!”

“Wait a moment. I’d like to finish my coffee while it’s hot please.” Sayo was starting to be more and more tensed with Hina and Tsugumi like that so she tried to appease herself with the coffee. It worked a bit. The deliciousness of the beverage was enough to calm her mind, even though it was coffee. And the cookie served with it was almost making her melt from all the savours.

“Awwh, but I wanted to see it now…” Hina sulked a bit. It wasn’t sincere of course. She respected Sayo’s breakfast and accepted to wait until she was done. However, Sayo saw her sister sulking and found it cute. Even after all those years, she still looked like a kid from time to time.

“You seem rather close suddenly you too, did something happened?” Tsugumi asked questioningly. She was curious how those two girls could become close in such a small amount of time… and she was jealous too. Sayo was a precious friend to her so seeing someone being close to her this suddenly, her heart ached. She did her best not to pay any mind to this feeling and kept smiling.

“Nothing, I just asked Hina to come today, that’s all.” Sayo kept smiling while sipping her coffee. She still wanted to keep the secret until the end after all. She was a bit afraid saying something would break the surprise a little for both of the women.

“Hmm, well I suppose I will discover why soon~ so I will wait for the surprise.” Tsugumi grinned. She was curious and still slightly jealous. However, she wanted to respect Sayo and was ready to wait. If it meant being even happier after waiting, she didn’t mind. She knew she shouldn’t rush things sometimes after all. And she promised herself she wouldn’t rush anything with her friend… Not this time…

Sayo soon finished her coffee. It was time to start real things… For some reasons, all the tension she had before entering this place vanished. It was mysterious. But she gladly accepted that; she didn’t want to fail her little performance because of something futile like this.

“I suppose I should start now. Hazawa-san, do you have an amp for my guitar? I’m sorry for bothering you” She actually forgot to buy a new amp since she sold her previous one. She couldn’t sell her guitar but everything else was sold. She now regretted doing so…

“Yes of course! Wait a moment.” Tsugumi left the main room and went upstairs in the house part, where she had been living all her life. In her bedroom she found a small amp. It should be enough for Sayo she guessed. She took it and went downstairs with it as fast as possible. She then handed it to the woman. “Here Sayo-san!!”

“Thank you Hazawa-san” Sayo thanked her with a warm grin, which made the brunette blush. She then took her guitar off from its case, before plugging it on the amp. She guessed she didn’t need to tune her guitar again since she did it this morning for her last practice session.

“I’m going to play now. I hope you will enjoy it, both of you…” She prepared her guitar and breathed heavily to relax herself one last time. She then started. The song she played was  ‘Tied to the skies’  From Afterglow. She didn’t pick this song at random. She felt like it was a good song to be the first one Tsugumi would listen. And it wasn’t bad either to be back to normal with her sister. She tried to pour all her feelings into her voice and her playing. Sadness from being alone, anger from the truck conductor, happiness and love from meeting Tsugumi. And one of the most important thing, she tried to apologize to Hina through her voice. She wanted to tell her she wouldn’t be stupid anymore, and that she would be a great sister for now.

When she was done, she tried her best to catch her breath. It was only one song but she was so intense into it that she even sweated. She regretted nothing. She did her best and did some mistakes, but she was satisfied about her song. Because she knew her feelings went through.

Hina listened to her sister all the time. And during the song, she remembered something. It was only a little thing but it meant a lot for her. It was a memory from her dear sister playing the guitar. She felt bad for forgetting that but now she was overjoyed she remembered. The person in front of her was really her sister. She couldn’t be wrong. And she was also filled with joy knowing she finally remembered a part of her life after all this time.

Tsugumi was overwhelmed with feelings. She felt sad for a moment, hearing Afterglow’s music. It remembered her of so many good moments and sad moments she shared with her friends. It was the past and she knew it wouldn’t exist anymore… Thinking that teared her heart apart and she cried. But then, she was filled with happiness because Sayo picked one of her favourite song from that time. And she felt something so strong toward Sayo. It actually wasn’t the first time she felt like this toward her but she tried to ignore those feelings until now. She knew she was in love with the teal-haired woman. Like when she was in love with Himari… Those feelings toward her childhood friend hurt her so much. She broke everything that time. And she didn’t want to break everything again. This time, she would forget those feelings for sure. Before everything could break again. With this revelation, even though she was happy, she couldn’t stop crying. And of course, Sayo noticed the brunette crying.

“Hazawa-san?!” Sayo was shocked Tsugumi was crying. She hoped deep inside she did nothing wrong by picking this song. She only wanted to make the brunette happy…

“It- It’s nothing… I am just happy… It’s one of my favourite song from Afterglow and… I never expected it would be the first song I heard from you… it was wonderful…” Tsugumi tried to stop crying and she was grinning so much from how happy she was. Sayo really made her feel so many different things. She tried to repress the bad things about this song and focused fully on the happy sides.

“Hmm! Tsugu-chan is right. Onee-chan!!” Hina suddenly hug Sayo tightly, almost jumping on her; she would if the guitar wasn’t here. She was so overjoyed she remembered and she also wanted to catch up with those five years without her sister.

“Hi- Hina?!” Sayo was surprised again. At least she didn’t make Tsugumi sad or uncomfortable. But now, it was Hina’s turn to surprise the woman. Was she this happy to hear the song? Sayo couldn’t tell. She never could tell her sister’s behaviour and thoughts.

“I remembered!!” She couldn’t hide her joy. She wanted to share it with her sister. She finally found her again and finally remembered things about her. She couldn’t be happier than that.

“Eh? Everything?!” Sayo was shocked again, when would it stop. She looked quizzically at Hina, with her eyes still wide open. Did she really help her sister to recover her memories?

“Unfortunately no, but I remembered something about you! The time when you practiced hours and hours in your bedroom!!” Hina said that proudly, and with a grin. It was one of the best memory she could retrieve. And she knew her sister would react about that. Here she was.

“Y-You knew about that?!” Sayo was astonished. Her sister knew she was rehearsing in her bedroom?! Even after taking all the care to do it behind her back so that she wouldn’t steal her only leisure. Five years later and she was only told now she wasn’t discreet. 

“Of course!!” She was still smirking, this worked extremely well. Seeing her sister like this was so wonderful too. She could see new sides of Sayo. She made sure to print in her mind Sayo’s embarrassed side.

“Y-You can forget that you know…” Sayo felt self-ashamed and she was blushing from that. It was too embarrassing to know this thing…

Tsugumi meanwhile giggled, she was really happy to see the two sisters together. They were sisters too… She was a bit jealous that Sayo had a sister. But she was happy the way it was. She had Sayo, and all her friends, she didn’t need a sister. She couldn’t even practice with her with how busy she is already.

“I’m back Hina.” Sayo said with a smile. She really was back to her sister’s side after all those years. It felt like eternity, and she almost wanted to cry. She never noticed before how precious Hina was to her. And for now on, she would make sure to be a good big sister for her, not running away ever again.

“Welcome back Onee-chan!”


	6. Let's form a band

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sayo picked the guitar again and is now reconsidering Ako's offer...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!!! At first I'd like to apologize. For the past chapters I've been reworking sentences to make them look better, but it's honestly tiring me out so much so I've stopped to do so. I apologize for all the useless commas in the sentences you'll see because I was really bad at writing in November haha,, Good news is that I'm going to upload way faster since I don't have to work hours on it now!! 
> 
> I still hope you will enjoy the story!! And I promise I will write better SayoTsugu fic in the future!

After her little show at Tsugumi’s café for Hina, the two sisters shared their line ID and talked from time to time. Sayo still felt a bit weird for talking to her sister after this long. However, it wasn’t bad. She got to learn more about her sister, like the people in her idol band group or where she was living. She also got to know about Hina’s girlfriend, Chisato. She was surprised those two were together. She met Chisato once with Hina and the girl was very calm and mature, it was surprising to have someone like that with the childish Hina. She guessed love could work with anyone. It also made her think about her own feelings toward Tsugumi. She was totally in love… When she was alone at home she couldn’t help but think about the brunette it was almost unbearable. She always tried to chase those thoughts away but sometimes it never worked…

Speaking of the brunette, Sayo was at the café again, drinking a coffee with Rinko and Ako. The woman couldn’t help but stare at the owner of this place while everyone talked to each other. Suddenly, she had a thought about the conversation she had with Ako and Rinko, about the band part… She didn’t forget about it and even thought over the idea after she started playing the guitar again. Maybe she should really try after all… Tsugumi’s words were still resonating in her mind. However, she noticed something else about the brunette when they talked about playing an instrument and she definitely planned to make her happy too.

“Udagawa-senpai, concerning the band part… Is it too late to accept?” Sayo asked suddenly, almost cutting them in their chat. She wasn’t really listening all this time after all.

“Eh?! Really?! Of course it’s not too late!!! Let’s do it! We’re gonna be so cool!” Ako was surprised by the sudden question from Sayo but she accepted it gladly. She thought she had to give up the idea of forming a band but maybe her dream wasn’t buried. However, she was curious about why the woman changed her decision so quickly. It wasn’t usual for Sayo to change her mind like this. “But why the sudden change of decision?”

“Well, let’s say I started playing again, and thought about Hazawa-san’s words… Which made me think it wouldn’t be so bad to form a band with you all. But I do have one condition.” Sayo stated. She didn’t want to play in a band without a certain someone that opened her eyes. This someone also seemed to want to play again but didn’t seem to be honest with their feelings. At least that was what Sayo felt.

“A condition…?” Rinko asked first. She didn’t follow Ako this far into the band thing but it was also something she wanted to do, so she was a bit curious about Sayo’s condition. She just hoped it wasn’t something too hard.

“Hazawa-san, play with us.” She knew Tsugumi wanted to play inside. She was the one not honest with herself, she could feel it. That’s why this time she was ready to help the brunette, and not being helped. It was her way to return her gratitude after everything Tsugumi did for her. 

“Eh? Me? It’s not possible! I’m already really busy with the café and everything… I won’t be able to play with everyone.” It was a bit of a lie. Sure she was busy with the café but other than that she was free. The reason she didn’t want to play the keyboard again is because she’s scared she will break the band with her feelings toward Sayo. She broke Afterglow because of her feelings toward Himari that time… She couldn’t let that happen again.

“Hazawa-san. We’ve known each other for months now. I know a lot of things about you. But do tell me, what do you really want to do?” She smiled warmly at Tsugumi and it pushed the brunette mentally forward to tell her own feelings after this long… She wanted to play again. But she didn’t know how to say it, how to start. And she was still scared… she did her best to hide her feelings, but with Sayo doing this smile and supporting her like that, it was impossible.

“… I want to play…” It was really weak. Just saying those words were making her heart ache. Some tears also started to run down her cheeks. Now that she started to let those feelings out, she couldn’t stop. “I want to play! I- I want to play with everyone. I want to play with you Sayo-san… But I’m scared… I don’t want to be the one breaking the band… I don’t want to pull everyone down again and be a dead weight… I’m scared…”

Sayo tried to sort her thoughts. It wasn’t something easy… But she now knew Tsugumi’s true feelings. She couldn’t let her push her own feelings away. It was time to move. The woman stood up and walked around to stand behind the counter, close to Tsugumi. She actually hesitated for a second, thinking she shouldn’t do something like this. But she just listened to her unconscious instead. She pulled Tsugumi in her arms, into a warm hug. She wanted to do her best for Tsugumi, like the girl did for her. “Don’t say such things Hazawa-san. You would never pull everyone down, or be a dead weight. If anyone would, then it would be me, not you. Besides, didn’t you tell me that it was fun? Let’s not worry about such important things, and let just enjoy ourselves as much as possible. Also, I don’t care if the band breaks quickly, I just…” She was a bit embarrassed to say the following but she had to. She forced those words out. “I just want to play with you.”

“…” Tsugumi was lost for a moment. Sayo was right but she still felt the weight on her shoulders. It was heavy. What if it happened again. But she really wanted to play with everyone and Sayo said she didn’t mind if it happened… Maybe it would never happen again… It was scary but she wanted to stop avoiding her fear, she wanted to face it. And this time she wouldn’t dodge the hand pushing her forward. She would accept it. Yes, she had to work harder for herself this time. It would be hard but she was ready now. Because she wasn’t alone. Sayo was here, wanting to play with her. She couldn’t push the woman away just because of her fear, she wanted to play with her too after all. “I want to play with you too… I… I will do my best. I won’t run away anymore… Thank you Sayo-san…”

“You’re welcome.” Sayo smiled, happy to see Tsugumi doing her best. And she was happy that she was able to help the brunette this time.

“Yes Tsugu-chin! That’s the spirit! You can do it, and we will all support you!!” Ako didn’t want to interrupt Sayo and Tsugumi earlier but since they were now done she didn’t hesitate to voice her support! Tsugumi was a precious friend to her, she didn’t want the brunette to feel bad.

“Hazawa-san, don’t worry about those things too much. We are just doing this to have fun after all.” Rinko also voiced her support to her friend. She might not know Tsugumi for a long time but she was still her friend. She couldn’t leave a friend sad.

“Ako-chan, Rinko-san… thank you. I will do my best to not pull you down!!” Tsugumi felt herself determined again. It had been so long since she last felt like that for herself. It was thanks to her friends, especially Sayo… She didn’t know how to repay the teal-haired woman for that. For now she would do her best!

“Hazawa-san, don’t overwork yourself.” Sayo warned. She knew the brunette had a tendency to work too hard. After working here for some months she noticed it. Warning might not work — knowing Tsugumi — but it was worth the try.

“Hehe I won’t, I will do my best not to overwork myself!” Tsugumi said that casually, thinking she wouldn’t. But her subconscious knew her better… and she worded it like that without thinking.

“That’s… exactly what I was trying to point. Nevermind that…” Sayo guessed she would have to watch over Tsugumi and make sure she won’t overwork herself too much. She wanted to trust the brunette but when it was worded like that, it was hard.

“By the way… we still don’t have a bassist. Does anyone have an idea?” Rinko interrupted the little chat between the two women to pinpoint the issue she noticed earlier in her head. Without a bassist they would not be able to form a band…

“Oh! If that’s the case, I might have one!” Tsugumi answered without thinking. She instantly thought about Himari. Even after everything that happened she was still close to the pink-haired girl. She was worried for a second but she felt like it would be fine. She didn’t have any feelings for Himari anymore… She had them for someone else after all.

“Who is it?” Rinko asked first. Sayo was also curious, and gazed at the brunette quizzically. While Ako waited for an answer, excited to know who their bassist will be. 

“Hehe it’s a surprise~ let’s meet later today after you are done with school!” Tsugumi could tell them soon but she didn’t want to. Not because she wanted it to be a surprise - albeit it wasn’t a bad idea - but mainly because she wanted to get Himari’s approval before anything. She didn’t want anyone to have their hope raised for nothing.

“Awwh Tsugu-chin it’s not cool!! After school for sure!!” Ako pouted a little, she wanted to know now. But she couldn’t really push the brunette. She had to endure school until the end!

“Yes, don’t worry~ now you should go before you’re late!” Tsugumi finally said, being the first one to notice how late it already is. She didn’t know too much about Ako’s or Rinko’s schedule but she knew Sayo’s and she was about to be late.

“Oh, that’s right. It’s already this late…” Sayo finally noticed when Tsugumi told her that. She had to left now unfortunately. But at least she would come back after school. She couldn’t miss the bassist Tsugumi picked. So she packed her stuff.

“Yes… Let’s go.” Rinko finally stated, which made Ako stand up and quickly left after saying goodbye to Tsugumi. The other two girls wished Tsugumi a good day and left as well. 

Tsugumi texted Himari quickly, before she opened the café. Today was going to be a huge day for her…

* * *

When school finished, Sayo quickly walked toward the café. She tried to stay calm but her curiosity was taking the lead. She really wanted to know who was the girl Tsugumi had in mind. She trusted the brunette of course, but for some reason she was jealous. It was weird for her to feel like that… She knew she had feelings for Tsugumi but she was repressing them. She didn’t have any reasons to be jealous.

When she entered the café, she was quickly greeted by Tsugumi, who seemed to talk to a girl with pink hair. Sayo didn’t know if she was just a customer or something more important. However, when Tsugumi greeted her the woman also turned to look at Sayo. That was when she noticed who she was. She was almost sure the pink-haired girl was Himari, Tsugumi’s childhood friend. She saw her multiple times on the photos around the café.

“Sayo-san! Hehe welcome back~” Tsugumi greeted the teal-haired girl happily and already started to prepare Sayo’s coffee. She was a bit excited to present Himari to her close friend.

“Oh! You must be Sayo-san! Hehe I heard a lot about you from Tsugu!” Himari grinned happily at Sayo and stood up to shake the woman’s hand. She was cheerful and she was happy to meet Sayo. She didn’t know a lot about Sayo except that she was the one Tsugumi loved. The brunette never told her that but she guessed. And when she found out, it hurt. She cried for some hours straight. After all, she was in love with Tsugumi, even still now. She was looking at her dear friend moving away from her to go to Sayo and she couldn’t do anything. She told herself she needed to at least be happy that her crush is happy with someone else. She wasn’t even sure she could make Tsugumi happy after all, maybe it was for the best.

“…oh, aren’t you Hazawa-san’s friend called Himari?” Sayo asked after looking at a photo quickly to be sure. She didn’t want to look silly in front of someone who seemed important enough since she knew about her name.

“Yes that’s right! I’m Uehara Himari! It’s nice to meet you Sayo-san!” Himari still grinned happily. She put her feelings aside. She genuinely wanted to know more about Sayo, from herself and not from Tsugumi. The brunette was her friend but when it came to love, she knew everyone would be biased. So she wanted to get Sayo’s personality by herself.

“Are you the bassist Hazawa-san was thinking about? If my memory works well, you were Afterglow’s bassist.” Sayo stated again. She knew about that already but she asked this question just in case. She needed to be sure who was in front of her.

“Yes it’s me! I’m surprised you know that much about me~” Himari was genuinely surprised. She always thought she wasn’t someone important in Afterglow, even though she was the band’s leader. Ran, and everyone beside her were shining more than her everywhere, she was transparent next to them. Having someone knowing about her wasn’t usual.

“It’s only natural to know my friend’s friends.” Sayo smiled a little at Himari. A genuine smile. She was starting to get used to smiling from time to time. Even though most of the time it was unconsciously, she still managed to make a smile appear on her face whenever she wanted.

“Hehe, I also know a lot about you too Sayo-san! Tsugumi kept telling me things about you when we text or chat!” Himari decided to counter-attack. If Sayo knew a lot about her, she was sure she could know even more about the teal-haired girl. After months and months of having Tsugumi talking about Sayo, she at least knew some good pieces of information.

“Hi-Himari-chan!!! That’s not true!!” Tsugumi flushed heavily and even pouted as she tried to stop Himari for saying more. Of course she couldn’t stop her, but she still tried.

“Ohoh~ if you say so then!” Himari smirked to answer the brunette. She didn’t plan to tease her too much, she wasn’t like Moca. But from time to time, she couldn’t stop herself. It was really cute when Tsugumi was blushing or pouting, so she wanted to see her more like that.

Sayo blushed a little from that revelation, but she couldn’t help but giggle with that in front of her. Tsugumi was really cute when she was pouting, that was a fact. But she wasn’t giggling because of that. She just found the two women so carefree between each other, and she could feel they were really close. It almost made her jealous…

“S-So, Sayo-san, Himari-chan is the bassist I was thinking about. I actually needed some time today to check with her, and she seems to be into the idea. I’m sure Ako-chan and Rinko-san won’t say no, but we should still wait for them.” Tsugumi explained while Sayo sat down. When she was done talking, she also finished preparing the coffee, and put the cup in front of Sayo, smiling warmly.

Himari just looked at those two, and she really could feel their feelings for each other. She almost wanted to hit her head on the table because they were both in love with each other, but they didn’t seem to notice that their feelings were mutual. It wasn’t her job to help couples though, so she decided not to do anything. Besides, it would be rude to bother them with that. Maybe they were aware but decided not to do anything about that. She would never know, and didn’t want to know about Tsugumi’s romantic life. It pained her just to think about Tsugumi leaving her side. She couldn’t do anything about that…

“Yes hehe~ If you accept someone like me, I’d like to join your band!! I miss playing with everyone after all…” For a moment, Himari’s voice trailed. She really missed playing with Afterglow. Now, she wouldn’t be able to anymore. Everyone was so busy. She couldn’t blame them, but it still hurt.

Fortunately, she was stopped in her thoughts with Ako and Rinko entering the cafe. She was thankful, because she didn’t want to think too much about what happened to Afterglow. She was still hurt by their sudden stop. Everyone was chasing their goal, but she always thought the band would stay strong… She might have been wrong.

“Where is the bassist Tsugu-chin?!” Ako asked eagerly as soon as she entered. She didn’t notice Himari yet, too focused on Tsugumi. She actually had trouble to concentrate all day at school, trying to guess who could be the bassist. However, she didn’t find anything useful.

“A-Ako-chan, calm down…” Rinko tried to calm Ako. She was actually breathing heavier than usual since she had to walk very fast to keep up with the tall student. She noticed Himari, and was about to tell Ako that she was here. But the pink-haired girl talked before.

“Hehe~ I am the bassist! Uehara Hiumari!” Himari introduced herself, even though she already knew Rinko and Ako. Especially Ako. Tsugumi already told her too that those two were in the band as well so she wasn’t surprised. But Ako’s height always impressed her. She really felt like she was in front of Tomoe sometimes. Ako was really cool now, where was the small and cute Ako? She didn’t know.

“Oooh Hi-chan!!” Ako only noticed her now after she talked. Was she there all the time? She was too focused on getting an answer from Tsugumi that she forgot she could have looked around for someone instead. She was stupid this time, but it won’t happen again! Maybe. For now, she was surprised Himari was their bassist. She thought the girl also stopped playing the bass after Afterglow broke up. “You really are our bassist?!”

“Yes! I will count on you Ako-chan” Himari said while grinning. She was actually happy she could play with Ako and Rinko. She always wondered how it would be to play with them, since her only experience was Afterglow. And being in a band again could make her relax with her job. She loved children, and they were all very cute and kind. But sometimes, it was tiring to be a teacher. She had to manage so much every day. The band would be great for her, she knew it.

“So… we have five members now…?” Rinko asked a bit shyly, she was still a bit embarrassed in front of Himari since she didn’t meet her a lot of time. But in her mind was something more important than Himari. She was mostly playing the keyboard, and she knew Tsugumi also played it… “But… I play the keyboard as well as Hazawa-san, what are we going to do?”

“Good question.” Sayo answered. She didn’t think this issue would be raised. People playing the same instrument isn’t the ideal, and they still lacked a vocalist. She could sing maybe… but it wouldn’t solve the instrument issue. “Hmm… Maybe you could both play…?”

“Fufufu, that’s when the empress Ako shall grant you her knowledge!!” Ako grinned, she felt cool knowing things because didn’t know. Being in a relationship with Rinko meant she was with her a lot of time, and she knew a lot about her. So, obviously, she knew about Rinko’s tendency to sing. “Rinrin can be our vocalist!”

“E-Eh?!” Rinko is shocked. It was true that she loved singing, but she couldn’t be able to sing in front of a group of people. It was too much, she already felt the pressure just by imagining it.

“I heard you sing before Rinrin and you’re so wonderful!! I’m sure you can do it! I believe in you, listen to your heart!” Ako just said whatever passed through her mind, but she meant every word. She knew Rinko would be able to sing, after all she was shining so hard when she was singing. She knew her girlfriend loved it.

“Me? B-But I am…” Rinko still wasn’t sure. She wanted to sing, she was fond of singing. But she wasn’t sure she could sing in front of a crowd of people. It put a lot of pressure on her shoulder… But she still wanted to sing, for herself and for Ako.

“Well… I can’t push Shirokane-sensei to do something… What do you want to do?” Sayo asked to Rinko. She wanted to make sure the girl would make the right choice for her. Not pushing herself to do something she didn’t want to. But still pushing herself to do something she wanted to. She could say that she was in the mood to help her friends a lot today.

“I…” She glanced at Ako who had a big smile. Ako and Sayo’s words as well as this smile in front of her, Rinko couldn’t escape. She wanted to sing, at least she wanted to try. She stared at Sayo again to answer. “I-If you wouldn’t mind… I could sing yes… I’m not sure I will be good in public though…”

“Hehe that’s alright Rinko-san! We are here to have fun after all~” Tsugumi finally chimed in. She felt like it would be too much earlier, but now it was the perfect opportunity. Cheering people on and pushing them forward was her specialty!! And as Sayo taught her earlier, there was no point in putting pressure on yourself, the most important thing was to have fun.

“Yes that’s true Rinko-san!! Let’s just have fun!” Himari added cheerfully. She just wanted to enjoy being in a band again. With new people, but she didn’t mind. She thought it would be still fun. She liked Ako and Rinko, as well as Tsugumi of course. And, even though she didn’t know too much about Sayo — Actually she did know a lot of things through Tsugu, but she knew they were embellished so it didn’t really count — she found her interesting, and nice to talk to.

“Then that’s settled. Shirokane-sensei will be our vocalist. Uehara-san our bassist, Hazawa-san the keyboardist, Udagawa-senpai our drummer and I will be the guitarist” Sayo summed things up for everyone, and also to clear her mind from the useless things now that everything was settled.

“Yes!! Then let’s practice now!” Ako was really enthusiastic. She could almost feel the rhythm in her body, and was eager to hit the drums. However, Tsugumi stopped her idea.

“Hehe well, I can’t close the café now. But we can try to book a room at a live house. What about CiRCLE? It’s close from there after all.” Tsugumi proposed to everyone. She knew CiRCLE well since she went there almost every day when she was still in high school. It was her place to rehearse alone most of the time. It was easier to practice there for her, and since it was close she didn’t mind going there. She also wanted to practice soon, but there was no point in rushing things for now.

“Ooh CiRCLE!! Hehe it brings back some memories~ let’s do our rehearsals there!” Himari remembered Afterglow’s time again. She really had trouble to walk forward and not be caught in the past. But she tried to forget that by thinking about the new band. She knew it would be great too. And making new memories might help her as well.

“It’s fine by me…” Rinko answered. She was still embarrassed from the vocal part, but she still smiled. She wanted to be closer to everyone, and to have fun with everyone…

“Hehe alright, then I shall grand this CiRCLE place the honour to have the presence of the dark princess Ako!” Ako was still herself as usual. She was still going too far with her words, but she really meant them and thought it was cool to be like that. And she was also excited to get there as soon as possible!!

“It’s fine for me too. We should trade our schedules and find a moment to book a room at this live house then.” Sayo proposed. She tried to take some of the lead since she knew Tsugumi would do everything otherwise. However, she wasn’t really confident in her ideas for now, so having the brunette baking her up was nice.

“Yes hehe let’s do that! But before that… We need to celebrate the beginning of our band!! Everyone with me! Hey! Hey! Oh!!!” Himari answered before Tsugumi could. She waited for this moment all day, doing her favourite thing!! Nobody in afterglow ever followed her before, but she was ready to do her best so that everyone would follow her this time!

“Oh!” But only Ako followed Himari. She just followed unconsciously, but it was fun to do that, so she grinned happily.

“Mooh everyone!! You’re all mean too!!” Himari pouted though. She was glad Ako followed her, but she wanted everyone to. However, she wouldn’t give up this easily.  ‘Next time for sure!!’

Everyone laughed after Himari’s reaction. Actually, Sayo and Rinko were too surprised to follow with that. And as always, Tsugumi found it a little embarrassing. But they still had a lot of fun in this new group of friends. Sayo hoped they would stay together as long as possible… With that in her mind, everyone shared their line Id, and then kept chatting with each other until it was time for the café to be closed. After that, Sayo went back home to practice more. She was even more devoted to the music now.

* * *

With everyone having shared their Line ID with each other, Tsugumi made a group chat for the band. That way, it was easier to manage the schedule and also easy to chat and relay information. Sayo and Tsugumi tried to manage with the schedule as soon as possible, and then Tsugumi booked a room at CiRCLE to practice the weekend. Even though they were the one leading most of the time, it was great for the teal-haired woman to see that everyone was working hard in the group. She was already having some fun. However, even if she was doing that for fun, she would never relax when playing. She had to do her best and be perfect. She couldn’t afford to pull everyone down after everything she said.

Filled with the determination, Sayo arrived in front of CiRCLE, far earlier than the meet up time they all agreed on. She already planned to arrive early since she hated being the last one to arrive and making everyone wait for her. When she arrived, however, she wasn’t alone. Tsugumi was already here. She half expected this to happen so she wasn’t totally surprised. With a small smile on her face, she greeted the brunette.

“Good morning Hazawa-san.”

“Good morning Sayo-san! You’re very early hehe~” Tsugumi was looking at some messages on her phone when Sayo arrived, so she noticed her only when she talked to her. With a smile as bright as usual, she greeted the girl back. She was happy to see Sayo this early during the weekend. “Himari-chan is already in the room, you can wait there! I will wait there to guide Rinko-san and Ako-chan when they arrive! It’s the room three.”

“Alright, I will wait for you there then.” Sayo still didn’t know how to react around Himari, especially alone with her. It was going to be her first time like this. But she did her best to keep her composure and not show her worries to Tsugumi. A last smile to the brunette, and she entered the live house. She was greeted by someone with long black hair. She didn’t know if the woman was the owner or just an employee, but Sayo greeted her back before looking around. Fortunately, she quickly spotted the hallway with all the rooms, and went to the room three. It took her some seconds to actually open the door when she was in front, trying not to be too tensed. Himari was also her friend now, she didn’t have to be tensed like this. With this thought in mind to repress the tension in her heart, she opened the door.

“Oh Sayo-san, good morning!” Himari quickly noticed Sayo entering. After all she was already done with tuning her bass, so she was just messing around on her phone to pass the time. She guessed since the girl was alone that the other still hadn’t arrived yet. With a bright smile on her face, she greeted Sayo.

“Good morning Uehara-san.” Sayo greeted her back. She was still a bit tensed. The thing bugging her is that she didn’t even know why she was tensed around Himari. Was it because she was one of Tsugumi’s childhood’s friend? She didn’t know.

For a moment, only the silence was filling the room. Sayo took her guitar out of the case, and started to tune it. She was so concentrated on her task that she didn’t notice how Himari was staring at her. The pinkette was curious about Sayo’s feelings for Tsugumi. She still felt the pain in her heart each time she thought about that. But she always tried to convince herself that Tsugumi would be happier with that. She kept repressing her feelings deep inside her. It was too late, she was too late to confess her feelings. So instead, she tried to lighten her own mood around those feelings.

“Say Sayo-san~ are you in love with Tsugu?” It was the first thing Himari thought to say. It wasn’t the best, but she supposed getting closer to Sayo and talking about that would help her. Besides, she wanted to know more about the teal-haired woman and see if she was good enough for Tsugu.

“W-What?!” Sayo flushed heavily. She was concentrated on her guitar until then, so she never expected Himari to talk to her. Especially not about that. Was she busted? Maybe not. She was going to do her best to hide it until the end. She decided not to talk about this at all to anyone. She would just repress her feelings, and stay Tsugumi’s friend instead of destroying everything but saying her feelings aloud.

“Hehe you can’t hide it from me you know?” Himari smirked a little while giggling. She was almost sure Sayo was in love. It wasn’t that hard to guess. Or maybe she was just really smart!! She wanted to think it was the latter because it boosted her self-confidence that way. 

“I- I’m not hiding it. I never said I was in love with Hazawa-san. Besides, we are both women.” Sayo just tried to find arguments to make Himari give up while doing her best to keep her composure. It was hard, but she more or less managed to do so. She didn’t want to dig her own grave by saying or doing something wrong. She still tried to think about a way to change the topic of the discussion.

“Sure~ Trying to run away with bad excuses I see I see~ you can’t trick me Sayo-san! You have a sort of smile only when you are talking with Tsugu you know?” Himari kept assaulting the poor Sayo meanwhile. She just had some fun seeing the woman doing her best to keep it hidden while she knew since the beginning about her feelings. But just seeing those reactions was enough for her to know that Sayo didn’t have bad intentions. She was too silly like this to be a bad person inside. Her heart was still sad, but also relieved that the person she loved wouldn’t be in bad hands.

“Do I?” Sayo couldn’t trust she had a smile only for when she was talking to Tsugumi. She knew after so long that sometimes she smiled with Tsugumi without noticing. But to the point that she had a different smile, she couldn’t think it was possible… 

“Yes! A very silly smile, not matching your serious at all fufu~” Himari kept teasing Sayo, she actually had some fun. She wasn’t the one usually teasing, but she understood Moca now. It wasn’t bad to tease people from time to time.

“Uehara-san.” Sayo tried to keep her composure but she was flushing hard. She had to retort with a cold glare just to tell Himari that she was going a bit too far. She was still feeling a little uncomfortable about talking to her own feelings. It was already a miracle she talked that much to Tsugumi. But she would never talk about her love to anyone.

“Alright I won’t say more… I’m sorry. But you should take the opportunity before you regret anything Sayo-san. Listen to your heart, or you will regret it.” Himari understood she went too far, and actually felt a little bad about it. So she decided to give a little advice to the woman. She wouldn’t make any move on Tsugumi anymore, she knew those two were a perfect fit for each other… Tsugumi deserved Sayo more than someone like her. However, she didn’t want Sayo to stay passive about everything. Thus her advice.

“What do you-” Sayo started to ask, but she was cut by everyone entering. She guessed she would never have her answer, so she put what Himari said aside for the moment, and greeted everyone. “Good morning Udagawa-senpai, Shirokane-sensei.”

“Oh, Sayo-san is really here already!! Oooh a drum set!!!” Ako actually couldn’t stay focused on one thing. It was her first time in a live house while being in a real band! It was already so much fun. After greeting Sayo very quickly, she rushed to the drum set, enchanted by it. She had her own drum kit at her home, but it was still so awesome to see one in a live house!

“Good morning Hikawa-san, Uehara-san.” Rinko walked in slowly, and greeted everyone in a better way than her girlfriend. She almost bowed to also apologize for Ako’s sake. She knew the purple-haired girl didn’t do it on purpose, but she still felt a little responsible, she could have warned her beforehand after all. Sayo and Himari didn’t mind though, they knew Ako’s personality well enough after all. They both only giggled with how Ako was.

“Hehe now that everyone is here, we can start! Did everyone bring what they need for Tied to the sky?” Tsugumi closed the door behind her before talking. They all decided in the group chat to learn this song from Afterglow first, since everyone more or less already had experience on it. Himari and Tsugumi because it was a song from their band. Sayo learnt it when she played for Hina, and both Ako and Rinko were familiar with the song enough. Of course, everyone still practiced at home before this day so as to not pull the band down. Sayo was the one who worked the hardest. She knew she was doing the band for fun, but she still didn’t want to take it easy.

Everyone agreed to Tsugumi’s words, and they prepared herself. Himari and Sayo checked their instrument a last time before preparing the amps. Rinko warmed her voice up while Ako was setting the drum set to be good for her. Tsugumi set her keyboard meanwhile. They all waited for each other to finish before they decided to start, with Ako giving the top with her drumsticks.

For a long time, they all played the song again and again. Each time they finished playing, Sayo gave advice to everyone to improve the rhythm of the group, as well as to be even more synced with each other. Since nobody complained about Sayo’s critiques, she kept doing so, until the end of the rehearsal session. The first try wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t really good either. But gradually, everyone started to be in sync with each other. It was a little hard, especially for Rinko since she wasn’t used to singing that much. So of course, Tsugumi proposed a lot of breaks, with everyone agreeing. Sayo was glad she didn’t forget to take a lot of water. The room got quickly warm with everyone moving around. As she was opening her second bottle of water, Tsugumi started to propose to stop.

“We should stop here everyone. Good work!” Tsugumi advised. She knew it was a bit weird for herself to think that since she was the kind of person to push herself too much. However, with her experience, she knew it wasn’t good to push the rehearsal session for too long. Especially with people not used to practice that much. She didn’t want anyone to get injured, specifically not Rinko with her voice. 

“Yeah, it was a good practice session.” Sayo added before drinking more water. She was really satisfied with this session. It was her first time playing in a band, but she had a lot of fun. Although she was strict with everyone, she just wanted to make it enjoyable for everyone. So she hoped she wasn’t too harsh, but she trusted Tsugumi. The brunette didn’t stop her at all so she supposed it was fine.

“Sayo-san is so strict~ but it was fun!!” Ako added while giggling. She thought Sayo was strict, but she didn’t mind actually. She improved much more than when she was just practicing alone. And after listening to the teal-haired woman, they all started to get in sync and it was so satisfying she still felt the goosebumps on her skin.

“Yes… I- I loved it…” Rinko said, smiling happily. She pushed herself a little too much so she was glad they finally stopped — she was too shy to ask to stop earlier. But she had fun all the time, and already wanted to do this again.

“Fufu if we keep going like that, we could do a live soon! Just kidding~” Himari joked about the live. She knew well how hard it was to plan a live and be ready for it. She knew they weren’t ready yet. But it was good to raise people’s spirit from time to time with ideas like that.

“Ooh yes a live!!! It would be so cool!” Ako didn’t notice it was a joke. She suddenly felt even more motivated to work hard for the live. 

“We still need to practice a lot before that Udagawa-senpai” Sayo commented. She wasn’t about to let the group have a live before they were ready enough. She didn’t want to make their first experience something horrible and let the band break.

“Actually… I think we are doing great already! Everyone was more or less experienced with the song, so after some more sessions I’m sure we can master it hehe~” Tsugumi tried to counterbalance Sayo’s reality with something more positive. She was fully aware they weren’t ready yet, but she didn’t want people to lose the motivation already if they stay negative.

“Maybe… But we should be careful. We may play for fun, but we shouldn’t look down on music.” Sayo was holding bands in high esteem. Even when they were just playing for fun, she didn’t want them to take it easy. It would be an insult to the people listening to them if they did so.

“Hmm then… what about doing one performance at my café? Not now of course. But rehearsing all the time isn’t the best either. One live should test us, and bring more tension I suppose~ My café isn’t really big, so we wouldn’t have a big audience. Perfect to start with~” Tsugumi proposed. She always wanted to do some music events to her café, so it could also be a good opportunity to start those with a little live from their new band. And with few customers to listen to them, it would be a good start without too much pressure. 

“Hmm…” Sayo think over the idea for a moment… But she could feel Ako’s gaze on her, and soon she couldn’t hold it anymore. It wasn’t a bad idea either, so she didn’t have any reason to refuse as long as they practiced well enough beforehand. “Alright… Let’s do this live. But first, I want us to have a good enough performance in rehearsing if that’s alright.” 

“Yatta!!!” Ako was already overjoyed and almost jumped. She didn’t do so just because of the drums surrounding her. They looked so expensive she was sure she couldn’t pay them back if she broke something.

“Yes of course~” Tsugumi was happy as well. A live, it had been so long since she last had one. And she was excited to share the stage with everyone again, especially with Sayo. During the rehearsal, she stared at the woman from time to time, and she really found her cool when she was playing the guitar.

“Let’s do our best then!! Hey! Hey Oh!” Himari tried her chant again, this time hoping more people would follow her. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the case.

“Oh!” Only Ako followed her again. The purple-haired girl found it fun to do so. And Himari was already very happy she wasn’t alone anymore to do it, but she wouldn’t give up!

Of course, everyone giggled when only the two girls did the chant. Sayo found the atmosphere really relaxing. And with that, she slowly tidied her stuff with everyone. They all chatted at the same time. Even though she was mostly listening to everyone, she sometimes said something. It really was relaxing to have friends, and now that she was there, she really didn’t want to go back to when she was alone for five years.

After tidying the place, they all left the place and went back to different ways. Unfortunately, Sayo was alone on her way home. She wanted to be with Tsugumi longer, but couldn’t find any excuse to follow her since the café was closed today. On her way back home, she couldn’t stop thinking about Tsugumi, but also about the live. And again, she was grinning without noticing.

“A live… I can’t wait for it…” 


	7. Opening on their feelings

Saturday afternoon. Today was finally the time. After a month of rehearsing around three times per week, they decided to do a live at Tsugumi’s café. It was happening during the afternoon as the café isn’t open at night. However, they chose to throw a party with everyone when the café close. But for the moment, they only had one thing in their mind, the live. Tsugumi was finishing the service, with Moca helping her. Her friend decided to help the brunette so that the customers could still order when she would be busy with the band.

“Hazawa-san.” Sayo called her out. They unfortunately didn’t have a band outfit, they couldn’t agree on anything specific. However, it was finally decided to wear the uniform of the café. Rinko, who was talented to sew clothes, helped resize and make more outfits for everyone. Sayo was currently wearing her own uniform that was made some months ago when she started working here. “We are waiting for you, you should come now.”

“Oh, hehe I will be there soon! I just need to-” Tsugumi wanted to finish the orders she already took, but Moca cut her before she could finish her sentence.

“Tsugu~ I will do it, go~” Moca, with her silly grin — at least that’s how Sayo considered it, but it was so mysterious — gently pushed Tsugumi toward the teal-haired woman, and they almost hugged. Of course the brunette blushed with how close they were, while Sayo did her best to keep her composure. But her heart was pounding very fast.

“A-Alright, I count on you then Moca-chan!!” She smiled back after regaining her composure from what just happened, before she talked to Sayo again. “Let’s go Sayo-san.”

They both left Moca working alone while they headed to the small stage they set few days ago to play. Moca could see them chat while smiling. And she couldn’t help but grin at the view. 

“Tsugu in love hm~ hehe it looks interesting~ should I do something to help her~” With this thought in her mind, she went back to work. She wasn’t the kind of woman to work a lot — she preferred lazying around — but she promised Tsugumi she would help her for today. And she really didn’t want to do bad to the café’s good reputation.

Tsugumi and Sayo joined the three other girls on the stage. Everything was already ready, but they needed Tsugumi to do a last check with the material. And so she did. In only took a mere minute, so she was quickly back with the group that was starting to be tensed.

“Hehe everyone, it is going to be alright! We practiced really hard for today~ don’t worry don’t worry~” Tsugumi tried to relax everyone. It actually worked for everyone except Rinko and Ako. It wasn’t surprising for the former, but for the latter… she looked almost dead. Her face was pale, and she was almost trembling. Sayo couldn’t help but be worried. Everyone was.

“Udagawa-senpai, are you alright? Your face is all pale.” Sayo asked, a bit concerned about her friend. She actually knew a way to make Ako less tensed. It was embarrassing to say but, it was worth trying. “… You are cool Udagawa-senpai…”

Instant effect, Ako’s face regained its colours, and she looked at Sayo with almost sparkling eyes. “Really?! Fufu, the dark empress Ako is always cool! She was born this way after all!”

“…” Sayo didn’t say more. She didn’t know what to say when Ako was like that, even after months knowing her. She just smiled, glad that her trick worked. They were now all ready to play.

“I guess we can start now?” Sayo proposed, she didn’t see anything else needed, and the time they set for the live was almost there. She was about to pick her guitar when Himari stopped her.

“Wait! We need to do something before!” Himari was really serious. She will make everyone do it this time! However, nobody really knew what was the something. Even Tsugumi forgot about that.

“What is it Uehara-san?” Rinko was the one to ask the pink-haired girl first. She was really curious, and hoped it would be something too hard. She was already tensed enough knowing she will have to sing in front of the people in the room. There wasn’t a lot of people, maybe a bit more than usual for the café, but it was still a small number of people compared to the live houses. However, it was enough to make Rinko tense.

“Hehe yes, we need the chant! You know, what I do all the time and you never follow me!” She started to pout a little to show she is disappointed that nobody follows her except Ako. And Sayo chuckled. She always thought it was embarrassing, but they could always try it.

“Why not…” Sayo answered. She was half into it, but it was better than nothing. It was still embarrassing after all even if she wanted to try. Hina wasn’t here to make fun of her later — she didn’t invite her because she was embarrassed already… but she did send her a recording of them playing during a rehearsal. Her twin sister annoyed her for hours after that. But it actually wasn’t bad… She really felt closer to her sister now, and didn’t feel like hating her anymore.

“Ooh!! Then let’s do it now!” Himari didn’t let the time for everyone to complain, and said her chant aloud, with a lot of enthusiasm. She really wanted everyone to do it! “Hey! Hey! Oh!”

“Oh!!” Ako, as usual, was really excited and did it instantly. She didn’t care at all about being embarrassed. She found it fun and cool to do it after all.

“O-Oh…” after a second, everyone else did it. Sayo started it, and everyone followed her. It wasn’t as energetic as Himari nor Ako, but it was still something.

“E-Everyone…” Himari couldn’t believe it… For the first time in her life — she didn’t count her pupils since they are just kids — everyone was following her chant. She could feel herself almost breaking into tears of happiness. She was filled with happiness. Instead of crying, she just smiled warmly and tried to stay focused on the live that was coming. “Alright!! We can do it!!”

Everyone took their position on the stage, and picked their instrument when they could. A microphone was set in front of everyone, so Tsugumi could do the introduction first. They decided she would be the one to do it that time since it was done at her café. It would also relax Rinko, she was already tensed enough after all.

“Everyone, we are finally going to play for you! We can only sing one song for today, but we hope you will enjoy this nonetheless. Listen to tied to the sky, from Afterglow…”

Soon enough, they all started to play. With all the rehearsing, they were used to the rhythm of the song, so they didn’t need Ako to hit her drumsticks together. Someone started, and everyone followed. And they felt so in sync. As soon as the first note was heard, they felt linked to each other. Rinko suddenly relaxed. She wasn’t alone, she was with everyone, it was alright. She directly started to sing perfectly. Sayo felt the same way… and everyone else. They felt linked to each other. Even though what they did during rehearsal was already good, this was at another level. Sayo was impressed she could play this easily, without having to focus herself completely on her fingers. She was enjoying this so much. She was playing with Tsugumi. She could hear everyone playing, of course, but she was overjoyed to play with the brunette too. It was a strange feeling… she felt like they were only the five of us in the world, with Tsugumi just next to her…

With that in mind, the song finished before she even realized. Sayo looked a bit surprised at everyone, not expecting it to finish this fast. She wanted to play more and more with everyone, but they only knew one song. Everyone wanted to play more. They were determined to learn more songs so that they could perform longer on stage next time. This live really boosted everyone’s mind. Tsugumi just hoped they wouldn’t be too self-confident. But she knew Sayo wouldn’t, so she wasn’t too worried.

“We… we did it!” Ako almost shouted, and the microphone was near so everyone in the room could hear her. Fortunately she wasn’t really embarrassed in her life, so she just grinned when everyone in the room giggled. 

“Yes~!” Himari was also so happy, she quickly put her bass aside before she pulled Sayo into a hug. The teal-haired woman was surprised she was the one to be hugged, but she didn’t mind. She was happy too… Her heart was pounding so fast for something other than thinking about Tsugumi. It was her first time she felt this happy with something other than the brunette. She really loved music. She loved playing the guitar and wanted to play it more and more.

Soon enough, everyone else joined the hug, happy about the live. And everyone in the room applauded them. The five girls were so happy. Himari even started to cry. She was overwhelmed by happiness. With the live, and what just happened before, it was too hard not to cry. 

“Hehe Himari-chan… You’re crying” Tsugumi was the first one to point at Himari’s tears. But she didn’t mind, she was also doing her best not to cry. It was almost overwhelming to play in a band again with such wonderful friends… especially with Sayo. All the time of the live, she couldn’t stop staring at her. She was surprised she never missed a note actually. But the woman was so gorgeous when she was playing the guitar… And she also caught the girl smiling. It was such a pure smile she promised herself she would keep it in her mind forever.

“But I can’t help it! I’m so happy… thank you Tsugu, thank you everyone for accepting me into the band… I love you all!” Himari still cried. She couldn’t stop herself from crying. She could still feel the joy of playing with everyone. They didn’t know them for too long, but they were already precious friends. Even Sayo, she accepted her and even tried to encourage her with Tsugu; it never worked though. If Moca was near, she would definitely have said something about the pinkette crying. So she was glad the girl wasn’t here right now, busy with the service.

“Thank you for joining the band too Uehara-san” Sayo wanted to thank the girl since the beginning. At first, it was true that she was on her guard around Tsugumi’s childhood friend. She felt like she would let out things from her life she didn’t want to let out. But the more she knew Himari, the better she felt around her. She was also one of her dear friend now. And she wanted to thank her for making this band possible. Without Himari, it would have only been a dream after all.

“Yeah! Let’s keep going together as long as possible!!” Ako said while grinning. It was so wonderful to be with her friends. She noticed that with Sayo and NFO, but playing in the band… She felt closer to her sister’s feelings now, but she was determined to find her own happiness in the band, and not just chase after her sister, even if she was really cool.

“Yes… and I will do my best to sing…” Rinko also wanted to keep going. She loved singing today. Her worries and tension suddenly disappeared, and she was curious if it would happen as well next time. Maybe she could finally realize her dream to sing. It wasn’t singing in an opera or anything luxurious, but it actually felt even better to achieve her dream in this band. She was surrounded by friends she cared about.

“Yes, let’s do our best, everyone…” Sayo finally added. She kept hugging her friends for a bit longer before she let go. They still had so many things to do today before closing the café. And she was ready to help with all the customers. However, she would never forget the joy she felt this afternoon.

* * *

After the live, everyone worked at the café to serve the great number of customers they had this day. Tsugumi said it was the first time the café was full like this, and she was happy she could bring a lot of customers here… She wanted to put a smile on everyone’s face with her coffee and her confections. And it worked today. It was a tiring, but still wonderful day. She didn’t regret doing the live here.

Now, it was the evening after it. They all decided to throw a party at Tsugumi’s place after the huge day, and also to celebrate their first live, which was successful. Sayo didn’t expect some people in the room to be there, but they were gladly welcomed. At the party were present Tsugumi, Sayo, Lisa, Rinko, Ako, Himari and Moca. Hina wasn’t there, but it was mostly because the woman didn’t tell her sister about the live nor their party. She was sure it would be embarrassing. However, she gladly enjoyed seeing Lisa here. It’s been so long since she last talked to her too. She decided to sit down next to the woman, a glass of beer in her right hand. 

“It’s nice to see you again Imai-san” She stated first. 

The woman, who was talking to Moca and just finished, turned to look at Sayo. She instantly smirked. She didn’t hear much about Sayo for a long time, and today she saw her in Tsugumi’s new band. She could guess a little how things went between those two.

“Sayo, hey~ I didn’t see you lately at the bar. Was it because you were too busy flirting with Tsugumi~?” Lisa didn’t hesitate to tease Sayo with that as soon as they started talking. It was also a little revenge for Sayo not coming back to the bar nor giving news for many months.

“I-I wasn’t.” Sayo was already hiding her embarrassment while drinking her glass. She just hoped she wouldn’t regret it later. For now, it was effective, her cheeks stopped being red quickly. “I started going to school again, I don’t have the time to go to your place unfortunately.”

“Awh I see~” Lisa was actually happy her friend started to redo her life. She could only encourage Sayo from behind, since she knew Tsugumi was the one by her side the most. But she didn’t mind. It was what friends do to each other: pushing each other’s back forward.

Sayo kept chatting with Lisa for a moment while drinking. It was nice to talk to her friend again. She really missed her. She didn’t want to admit it aloud because it was embarrassing, but Lisa really was a precious friend to her. So she was glad she didn’t break her relationship with the woman when she stopped going to the bar. She must admit she should have sent more messages, but she didn’t want to bother the girl either. After chatting for some time, and drinking more than she actually thought, Himari cut everyone talking to say something. 

“Let’s make a king’s game!” Himari suggested. It was a game she always loved playing with her friends. And it was also a good game to get closer to each other. It was the perfect opportunity for this new group of friends to be even closer and get to know each other better.

“A king game? What is it?” Sayo asked genuinely. It was her first party with friends, so of course she didn’t know a lot about games played during parties either. She just hoped it wasn’t something crazy, knowing Himari…

“Hehe Sayo-san doesn’t know?” Moca said while grinning. She didn’t know Sayo a lot, but, of course, she heard about her from Tsugumi. And just by seeing her today, she already noticed Tsugumi and Sayo’s mutual feelings. This game would be the best opportunity to mess around with those two. “It’s a game where someone is picked as the king and can give an order~”

“It… doesn’t sound really interesting.” Sayo’s fear started to be real… it seemed to be something crazy, and a bit scary. She didn’t like the idea of the game… She should state now that she didn’t want to play it. However, Tsugumi spoke before she could.

“Moca-chan made it sound weird hehe. Actually, it’s a fun game! We all pick a sheet of paper, or a chopstick with a number on it. The one without a number is the king, and gets to give an order to one or two people. It’s usually really fun Sayo-san! We don’t make bad orders, it’s usually soft things so don’t worry!!” Tsugumi tried her best to explain the game without making it sound scary like Moca did. She also wanted to play it with everyone, and especially Sayo. She was sure they could have a lot of fun.

“I-I see… then why not” Sayo was still not totally convinced, but Tsugumi did her best to explain the game. And it didn’t seem as scary as it seemed. Maybe she could give it a try. Nothing prevented her from stopping if it was too much too.

“Yeah a king game!!” Ako, as usual, was excited. And playing a game like this with friend was always so wonderful. She did play it a few times with people from Afterglow where she was around with them. But it’s been a long time since she last played it. Besides, playing it with real friends she made by herself was even better!

“It does sound fun yes~” Lisa commented while looking at everyone, especially the famous pair… It could be interesting to see embarrassing orders between those two. She was wondering if it would happen, and was looking forward to it.

“Alright!! Just give me a second!” Himari walked out of the room. Everyone seemed to want to play, so she needed the material!! She knew the place well enough, so she quickly found everything she needed. Around five minutes later, and she walked back in the room. In her right hand, a pot with chopsticks inside that she then put on the table after sitting back on her cushion.

“Alright!! Everyone picks a stick~” Himari said, finally starting the game! Everyone quickly picked one stick in the pot, so fast that when Sayo reacted, there was only one missing. She took the last one… She wasn’t the king… Actually, Ako was the one, and she didn’t hesitate to state it first.

“Ooh, fufu the dark power has chosen me! I am the empress! And I order that the number four has the hug me!” Ako is really into it, and went fully into chuunibyou mode with her dark power thing. By now, everyone was used to it so nobody really minded. After giving her order, the girl looked around, wondering who was the chosen one.

“Awh, Ako wants a hug from me hmm~ I guess I should provide the hugs then~” Lisa had the stick with the number four on it, and didn’t hesitate to tease the girl, and maybe tease Rinko as well. She already knew Ako well, so it wasn’t awkward to give her a hug, and she didn’t mind either. She stood up and hugged Ako for a moment before pulling away. 

“O-Oh…” Ako blushed a little from the sudden hug. She didn’t expect Lisa to be so easy-going with a hug. She didn’t mind that much, but she was a bit worried about Rinko… She knew her girlfriend wasn’t easily jealous, but she was always concerned! She stared at her girlfriend during the hug, and relaxed a little when she saw that Rinko didn’t seem jealous. It was alright. She hugged back Lisa until the end of the hug.

“Hmm, I think I understand the game now.” Sayo stated. It really wasn’t as bad as Moca explained. Maybe she could have fun. Another round started, and everyone picked another chopstick after putting their back inside. This time, Sayo was the king. She wasn’t expecting it to arrive so quickly, but she had to anyway. Quickly, she tried to find an order she could give before saying it.

“So…” Sayo could actually see Tsugumi’s pick, so she made sure not to choose her. She could pick the brunette with her, but she was actually too embarrassed to do that. Instead, she just picked two random numbers that weren’t Tsugumi’s. “The number two has to feed something to the number one?”

“I am number one~” Moca giggled while showing her stick with the number. It was a rather interesting order. She wondered who was going to feed her, and with what.

“I… I am number two…” Himari showed hers too, while blushing. She never expected Sayo to give an order like this. It was more embarrassing than what she thought Sayo could say.

“Hehe Hii-chan~ now feed me~” Moca smirked teasingly. She knew Himari would be embarrassed about feeding her. But it was even better that way. She went next to Himari and kept smirking until Himari accept.

“Mooh I get it!!” Himari, still embarrassed, picked a small round loaf, and slowly brought it to Moca’s mouth. She was feeling very self-conscious about feeding her friend… her hand slowly moved toward Moca’s open mouth while her cheeks grew redder and redder. She didn’t have feelings for Moca, but it was already hard. She didn’t even want to think what a mess she would be if she had to feed Tsugumi.

The blonde girl opened her mouth, and waited to be fed before bitting into the bread. Her eyes were still open, so she gazed at Himari’s embarrassed face. It was almost feeding her better than what was brought in her mouth by the pinkette. “Good~” She said while eating the bread. It really was delicious, not as good as Yamabuki’s bakery’s bread, but still really great. Tsugumi really was skilled to cook and bake things.

Himari still blushed hard. Her cheeks didn’t calm after a long time, trying to recover from what just happened. And Sayo actually blushed a bit too,. She imagined Tsugumi doing that to her, and just thinking at how close the brunette would be… The girl’s fingers near her lips, maybe she would even graze one of them with her lips when she would be fed. Those ideas invaded her mind, and she shook her head to chase them away. She hoped nobody saw her being weird like that. Unfortunately for her, Moca noticed that.

Everyone put their stick back inside the pot. It was time for another round, and everyone picked a new stick. This time Moca was the king. It would be very interesting! She was already smirking and glanced at Tsugumi and Sayo.

“Hehe I am the king hm~ Then~ number four and number two should kiss~” Moca smirked at Sayo and Tsugu as she gave her order. They were the numbers she chose, she knew it. How could she know? It would stay a secret for eternity.

“I…” Sayo looked at her number… “I am number two…” She didn’t know Tsugumi was the other girl, so she was stressing. It wasn’t a hug, it was a kiss. She was so tensed… what if she had to kiss someone she didn’t know well like Moca or Himari? She was already ready to stop playing or saying no to the order. It was too much for her…

“I am the number four hehe…” Tsugumi blushed so much when she knew her partner was Sayo. She was going to kiss Sayo, how could she?! It wouldn’t be possible, she can’t. She just stared at Sayo, still blushing, but sometimes she looked away because it was hard to keep eye contact in this situation.

“…” Sayo was a bit relieved when she heard her partner was Tsugumi. She wouldn’t have to stop playing, it was manageable… That’s what she thought, before her brain analysed the idea. The tension came back when she realized she will have to kiss her crush. Her face turned bright red as well, and for a moment, she had trouble to make eye contact. Kissing Tsugumi… It was something she thought she would only do in her dreams, and even now she wasn’t sure she could do it, even with the alcohol inside her.

“Come on~ you can do it Sayo-san~” Moca said in an encouraging way, but Sayo clearly heard the teasing tone in the blonde’s voice. The blonde was already finding it so entertaining. The two women were so embarrassed, it was fun to watch.

Sayo, however, was a bit annoyed by Moca, with the teasing tone and how the girl glared at her and Tsugumi before even saying the numbers of her order, she more or less knew it was planned by her… But she couldn’t say anything, she didn’t have any proof after all. People would just say she isn’t fair, wouldn’t they? It’s just a kiss she can do it. She didn’t notice, but the alcohol in her blood made her bolder than usual. She started to look into Tsugumi’s eyes deeply, while leaning closer… “Do you mind Hazawa-san?”

Tsugumi was lost. She could feel her heart beating so fast, and her face was almost burning. She just stared back into Sayo’s eyes for a moment and nodded to answer her. Sayo was about to kiss her, and even though she wanted to stop her, she actually wanted this kiss. Her heart was almost shouting at her to kiss the woman in front of her, but she couldn’t move. She hoped Sayo would do it…

And she does. At first, she leaned a bit closer to the brunette, smiling warmly at the brunette. However, she noticed Tsugumi seemed a little tensed. She absolutely didn’t want to make the brunette uncomfortable, so she just let her subconscious guide her to comfort the brunette. 

“Tsugumi-san, you have beautiful eyes… I love them… I’m going to be gentle, you can relax… tell me or push me away if you want it to stop…” She said without thinking. She wanted to do her best for Tsugumi. Inside, her mind was shouting at her to kiss Tsugumi, but she would never do something uncomfortable to the brunette.

“Eh?” Tsugumi was shocked for more than one reason. Sayo just called her by her first name for the first time, and her heart almost exploded in her chest. It felt weird… It was as if it was squeezed in her chest, but it didn’t hurt. She didn’t know how to react, but she slowly felt the locks her mind put around her heart unlocking. With her face even redder than before, she half closed her eyes while smiling. She wasn’t tensed anymore. She couldn’t repress her love anymore… She totally forgot there were people around her watching them.

Sayo, was glad Tsugumi relaxed after saying that, and she leaned even closer. She was about to kiss the brunette, when she suddenly remembered where she was. It would be so embarrassing to kiss her crush in front of people, under the effect of the alcohol… So, at the last second, she moved to kiss Tsugumi’s cheek before whispering.

“I apologize, I didn’t want to do that in this situation… with everyone around, and with the alcohol…” She then pulled away from Tsugumi, but kept staring at her to make sure she was alright.

Tsugumi completely thought she was going to kiss Sayo, that she was surprised when the teal-haired woman kissed her cheek instead. She also was almost disappointed. However, when the girl whispered those words, she quickly looked at Moca while pouting. She was so embarrassed now. She could still hear Sayo’s voice in her mind, calling her out by her first name. It was making her go through so many feelings. And she let her guard down because of the atmosphere.

“Moca-chan!! Don’t do something like that again uuu!!” Tsugumi complained. She was disappointed it didn’t go until the end of the kiss, but she thought her heart was going to explode. Maybe it was for the best the kiss didn’t happen on her lips. She really didn’t want to pass out in front of everyone, in her own house.

“Hehe~ who knew Sayo-san could say something lewd like this~ ‘I’m going to be gentle’ fufu, it sounded so h-word Sayo-san~” Moca teased Sayo even more. It was so fun she was already doing her best not to laugh with that. But she was really surprised the teal-haired girl could do something like that in front of everyone. Maybe it was the alcohol that helped a lot, but it was still surprising.

“I-” Sayo’s cheeks flushed bright red again, but she frowned while staring at Moca. “I didn’t mean it like that!” Sayo did her best to defend herself. And of course she understood Moca’s sexual innuendo. So as to not make it worse for herself, or Tsugumi, she tries to change the subject. “L-Let’s do next round!”

Before everyone could object, Sayo rushed things and even took the chopsticks away from the player to put them back in the pot. Each person, not really having the choice here, took a stick again out of the pot. This time, Lisa was the king, and quickly expressed it.

“Alright~ I’m the king~” The woman showed the stick with the red strip at the end to show everyone she was the king. “Hmm…” She pondered for an idea for a moment. She actually didn’t think about any order since the beginning of the game. So she just said aloud the first one she had in mind. At least it was still something soft. “The number one and two must hold hands~ hehe it’s not hard!”

“I’m one!!!” Ako raised her stick enthusiastically. She had a lot of fun in this game, and holding hands wasn’t too embarrassing either, she could definitely do it. Actually, she didn’t even think about being embarrassed about hand-holding, it was just something normal for her after all.

“I’m… number two.” Rinko, first tensed about holding hand with someone, was relieved when she knew her girlfriend was her partner. She wasn’t as carefree as the purple-haired girl, holding hands was so embarrassing for her. But with Ako, she doesn’t mind at all. They did that so many times already. She took advantage of the fact they are sitting next to each other to slowly hold Ako’s hand. Ako held it back while grinning before raising their hands to show it to everyone.

“Hehe~ Rinrin’s hand is very soft!!!” Ako was kind of showing off to everyone, even though she didn’t notice she was doing so. She was just filled with joy with her girlfriend next to her. Rinko, however, flushed heavily in front of the group. She felt so self-conscious to hold hands like this. She thought it would be alright, but she was wrong. She tried her best to stop it as soon as possible before.

“L-Let’s do the next turn then…?” She said, doing her best not to stutter too much from embarrassment.

“Eh already~? Fine…” Ako was slightly disappointed it ended this soon, but she released Rinko’s hand before moving her hand back to her previous position on the table. She could just wait another hour or so before holding Rinko’s hand after all.

A new turn again, some people took the opportunity to redo the picking of the sticks to comment on Rinko and Ako’s hand-holding, but it was fast, and they quickly started the new turn. With Moca being the king again. As soon as it was revealed, Sayo could feel goosebumps on her body. Especially with this smirk she could see on her face. It wasn’t good at all. She thought that she might have to stop the game.

“Hehe~ number one must confess to number three~” Moca was enjoying this so much. She didn’t realize she was pushing it too far though. 

“Stop!!” Tsugumi, with her face deep red, almost shouted it. She said it as soon as she noticed it was Sayo and her again. She wasn’t dupe, something was going on. However, she couldn’t really accuse Moca without proof, she would feel too bad… So she just tried to stop the game. “It’s- It’s enough for today, we got enough fun with the game so let’s do something else~”

“Yes. Hazawa-san is right…” Sayo was so relieved Tsugumi stopped it first. She was already feeling horrible enough to stop everyone’s fun for her own personal well-being, but if Tsugumi also felt uncomfortable, maybe it wasn’t bad to stop it. Before Moca would go too far. It was already too far. But she just glanced a bit coldly at Moca for some seconds to warn her, before focusing back to the party. Moca and Himari complained a little, but after Tsugumi insisted, backed up by Sayo, they accepted to stop playing and to do something else. Moca also felt Sayo’s glare of course, and she felt a little bad, she went too far. While the party kept going, she apologized to both Tsugumi and Sayo in private, when she could find the time to do so.

The party lasted until a bit after midnight, before everyone went back to their home. Sayo barely managed to catch the last train to go back home. A minute later and she would have missed it. While going back home, she couldn’t stop thinking about the party, and about Tsugumi. Her life really was filled with happiness since she met her. Maybe one day she would tell the brunette about that…


	8. Bad and good feelings mixing together

CiRCLE. It was the live house Sayo and everyone in the band was used to going for practice. Today, they were gathered here not for practice, but for a live. The staff manager, Marina, proposed they participate in their event. It was mostly addressed to new bands and the pressure wasn’t a lot, so she thought it would be perfect for their group. Of course they accepted the offer, not before thinking about it though. They even made a new song especially for the event.

“Everyone, are you ready?” Sayo said as she entered the room where Afterglow was waiting. She was just told from the staff it would be their turn soon and that they had to get ready to go on stage. 

“Yes!” Ako wasn’t tensed like the last live. She was full of energy and was looking forward to using all of it when playing the drum. She still couldn’t think they were finally having a live at CiRCLE. It was almost a sacred place for her since they started rehearsing here. Having only visited and played at this live house did help her to decide that though. In any case, she was very excited. They will have an even bigger public!

“Hehe let’s do our best!” Tsugumi, still cheerful, was a bit tensed. It had been so long since she last had a live in front of so many people, so she wasn’t used to it anymore. But she did her best to keep a smile on her face, and cheer everyone in the group.

Rinko nodded only. She was getting really tensed for the live. But she was focusing her mind on the feeling she had during the concert at Tsugumi’s café. She felt at ease standing with everyone on the same stage, she was sure it would happen again. At least she hoped it would.

“Before going, let’s do it!!” Himari proposed again. Last time, she did get everyone to say it, albeit a bit weakly. She hoped it would be even better today! She tried to do it during their rehearsals but only Ako followed during them. Maybe for a real live everyone would be with her. She really wanted it to happen again.

“… Alright…” Sayo, who was usually embarrassed about it, accepted again for the second time. It was a big event, and it would make everyone motivated for what was waiting for them so it wasn’t a bad idea.

“Yeah!! Everyone!! Hey! Hey! Oh!” Himari was so overjoyed. Sayo accepted again, she was always the first one to refuse and today she was the first one to accept! She felt how reluctant the teal-haired girl was when accepting, but it was the first time! Maybe soon she would be the one to ask for the chant. Himari dreamt about that while starting the chant.

“Oh!!!” Ako, as usual, was the first to do her part, before everyone else. She was always so excited compared to everyone so it was no wonder she was the first to shout.

“O-Oh..!!” Everyone else followed soon after, a bit less enthusiastic compared to Ako, but it was still something. Himari could feel tears of happiness almost going down her cheeks, and she had to stop them before it started flowing. She didn’t want to ruin her makeup.

After the little chant, they finally left to go on stage. This time, Tsugumi wouldn’t be the one making the presentation, but rather Rinko. At first, the nurse wasn’t totally sure it would be alright, but after practicing hard, she wanted to do it. She was the vocalist so she needed to do something too! After everyone went to their position, she started to talk.

“We are [insert band name]. I hope you will enjoy our song: cookies and coffee” Rinko introduced only the band name before the song started. The name of the song was really simple, and a bit childish, but they all accepted the name that was inspired by Tsugumi’s café and cookies. They were always so delicious they all wanted to but those feelings into words. And then they made a music on it.

The song started, and everyone did their best to play it while pouring their feelings into their instruments. Everyone actually did very great again. The feeling of sync wasn’t as strong as during this time at Tsugumi’s café, but they all could feel it was present. However, it wasn’t strong enough to prevent Sayo from failing a chord. It wasn’t a big mistake, and nobody even noticed it in the crowd, but Sayo suddenly felt horrible, and disappointed in herself. She still did her best to keep playing until the end. But she was glad they only had to play one song…

“Thank you for listening. It was [insert song name] with Hazawa Tsugumi at the keyboard. Hikawa Sayo at the guitar. Udagawa Ako at the drum. Uehara Himari at the bass.” This time, catching her breath a little at the end of the song, Rinko presented everyone. Except herself, of course, it felt too selfish for her to do so. So they decided to make Himari introduce Rinko. Ako really wanted to introduce her cool girlfriend, but after a lot of tests, Rinko still chose Himari. She found her girlfriend cute, and wonderful, but the way she introduced Rinko in those tests was too embarrassing. As she introduced everyone one by one, everyone played a little solo of a few seconds, as if they introduced themselves through their instrument. When it was her turn to be introduced, she let Himari talk, glancing at the pinkette.

“And Shirokane Rinko as our vocalist!” Himari finished the introduction, before Rinko could speak again to finish. She didn’t have to say more, and it was enough for her. 

“Thank you for listening again. We are glad we were able to perform in front of many people; in front of you. We hope we will get the opportunity to play for you again!” When she finished talking, everyone in the band bowed to thank the people in the crowd, before they slowly left the stage. Earlier, Tsugumi noticed Sayo’s guitar introduction was lacking spirit. And of course she also noticed the slight mistake the woman did, but didn’t think it was related at first. That’s why she thought it wasn’t usual for Sayo to be in this state and so she was getting a bit worried about her friend. She tried to chase after her, but the woman was walking a bit too fast, and when she reached her, they were already inside their room with everyone. She definitely couldn’t bring the issue here.

Sayo was quick to pack all her stuff and leave the room. She was too fast for Tsugumi to follow. But the brunette didn’t want to leave her alone after that. As soon as she saw Sayo leaving the room, she ran after her, but not before saying something to Himari. 

“Sorry Himari-chan, can you bring my stuff to my café? I’ll see you there!” She shouted and left the room, leaving everyone looking at each other in the room. They were all wondering what was happening. Himari couldn’t even say something else. Well, she couldn’t say no to her friend after all. She calmed everyone, and packed her stuff slowly, as well as the remaining of Tsugumi’s stuff, before leaving.

Meanwhile, Sayo was walking fast with her guitar case on her shoulder. She felt horrible. She missed a note on a song she played again and again, just because she wasn’t concentrated enough. She didn’t practice enough. She hated herself for that. She broke everything, the concert was most certainly a failure — she was too focused on her bad thoughts to notice the public happy earlier — and she was a dead weight for the band. She suddenly snapped out of her thoughts when she felt someone grabbing her shoulder.

“Sayo-san!” Tsugumi was panting. She had to catch her breath after running so fast to catch up with the woman. However, she looked really serious and determined. She wouldn’t let go of Sayo before the girl felt better with what happened. She was too precious to her to let her alone in this moment.

“Hazawa-san?” Sayo was surprised. She never expected Tsugumi to follow after her, especially after she did her best to leave as fast as she could. The girl looked a little tired, so it was easy to notice she ran after her. She didn’t even know why the brunette would go this far for her. 

“Yes it’s me… why are you leaving like that?” Tsugumi didn’t want to beat about the bush. She went straight to the question she wanted to ask since she saw the girl leaving earlier. Why. She knew about the mistake, but she still didn’t understand.

“Because… I made the live a failure.” Sayo confessed. There was no point in hiding things. The woman chased after her, she didn’t want to be mean to her either by lying. Besides, she could never lie to Tsugumi. It was painful, but she told the truth. She guessed Tsugumi noticed the missed chord, but still. It was the thing making her feel bad currently.

“What are you saying? Everyone seemed so happy!” Tsugumi wanted to make Sayo feel better. But for now she had trouble to understand what the woman thought. She couldn’t have made the live a failure, everyone looked so happy in the audience. She couldn’t think about that as a failure.

“I missed a note, it… it wasn’t like me…” Sayo actually repressed her tears. She was angry at herself, but also disappointed. She knew she worked hard for that live. She was just trying to put all the blame on herself for not rehearsing enough or messing around. But deep inside she was aware she did her best. It was frustrating. Missing after rehearsing that much was frustrating.

“…” Tsugumi fell silent for a moment. Now she definitely knew what was wrong. And she wasn’t about to let Sayo look down on herself like this. As she frowned at Sayo’s words, she took both of Sayo’s hands in her own while staring into Sayo’s eyes.

“Sayo-san… Don’t look down on yourself too much. You know I admire you a lot.” She always thought about repressing her feelings, but if it could help Sayo, she would gladly put them into words. She was done with hiding everything. She would rather say everything and help Sayo than leaving her in this state.

“You admire me?” Sayo was suddenly surprised. She never expected Tsugumi to admire someone like her. After all, she was simply normal, while Tsugumi was wonderful. What could the brunette admire about her. She just thought the girl said that to make her feel better. The intention wasn’t bad, but she felt even worse now that she was pushing her friend to say that.

“Yes I do. You always look strong-minded. You always work hard and stay composed. You achieved so many things this year… You’re wonderful, and I admire you for everything you do.” Tsugumi just let her heart speak. She was confessing everything to Sayo. She always thought she was wonderful, ever since she met her at Lisa’s bar. And she couldn’t be grateful enough for having her in her life.

“…” Sayo couldn’t believe Tsugumi. She knew she started to become someone she wanted to be. But it was far from being wonderful. She only stopped being pathetic after all. How could Tsugumi think like that about her. Actually, between them, she thought the brunette was the wonderful person here. She always admired her, and couldn’t thank her enough for pulling her out of her pathetic way of living. “I’m not wonderful. You are wonderful Hazawa-san.”

“No… I’m just a normal girl, owning a normal café. There’s nothing wonderful in that.” Tsugumi couldn’t think about being wonderful. All her life she was normal. She never had any talent like all her friends. She’s just working hard, enough not to pull anyone down. It worked for a moment with Afterglow, until she broke everything. Now, she was working hard again so as to not be a dead weight for their band, nor for Sayo.

“Yes there is.” Sayo stared into Tsugumi’s eyes. This time she was the one determined. She didn’t care about her previous worries anymore. She couldn’t let her precious friend think about herself like this. And since Tsugumi was honest with her feelings, she would do the same. No more hiding everything. She was letting everything out. “Without you, I would still be drinking and smoking at my home, being pathetic. I was able to walk forward again thanks to you. You kept pushing my back, and I can’t be grateful enough for that. Yet, I am here, missing a note when we need to be perfect. I am not wonderful. You are the most wonderful person. You’re hardworking, and you never lose determination. I admire that from you.”

“Don’t say things like that! Aren’t we just playing in the band for fun? We all had fun! Didn’t you enjoy it?” Tsugumi’s heart ached. It was painful when Sayo looked down on herself. The girl didn’t deserve that. She only deserved happiness. Tsugumi wanted to provide this to Sayo. She wanted to make her smile. Because she loved Sayo’s smile. She would do everything to make the woman smile genuinely even more.

“I did! But there’s no point in enjoying things if we fail…” Sayo was stubborn. But she didn’t think she was wrong. She had fun. She loved playing on stage with everyone. But to play on the stage and be the one making a mistake after pushing everyone to rehearse. It wasn’t good. 

“Yes there is! Because as long as I’m having fun with you, I don’t care about anything else!” Tsugumi stepped even closer to Sayo, still staring into her eyes. She would not leave the girl thinking like that. She was totally sure everyone in the band and the audience had fun. She still remembered Ako’s, Rinko’s and Himari’s smiles. They didn’t look disappointed at all. And the most important thing for her is that she loved playing with Sayo the most. And she had so much fun doing so. It really pained her to hear Sayo saying all of this.

“I- you do?” Another surprise for Sayo. But this time, it was even more surprising. She never expected Tsugumi’s feelings to go that far. And she was so shocked she couldn’t say she was feeling the same. She had fun with Tsugumi… She really had.

“Yes! I have fun with you! And I want to play with you forever! I don’t care if you fail a note, or if I fail one. I am just happy to be by your side.” Tsugumi kept talking. She kept confessing, and she was determined to go until the end this time. Especially if it could help Sayo. She wasn’t afraid anymore. She trusted Sayo, and she trusted herself this time. Except of running away, she had to face the issues and resolve them by herself. So this time, she wouldn’t run away anymore, and she would tell her feelings.

“Oh…” Sayo’s face started to turn pink. She still didn’t know Tsugumi’s goal of all of this, but it definitely made her heart race. She did her best not to look away.

“You know… you talk about me pushing your back, but you also did that to me. Thanks to you, I get to play in a band again. I get to play the keyboard again. It was only a distant dream until you came in my life. I also…” Tsugumi kept talking about her feelings, but she had to stop. Her heart was racing. Her words were stuck in her throat, as if there was a knot there, preventing her from talking more. She suddenly felt so tensed. She was prepared for it to be hard to confess, but not to this point.

“… you also?” Sayo felt something inside her. It was hard to describe. She felt her heart aching, something seizing her throat. She could guess what Tsugumi was about to say, but at the same time couldn’t. Maybe she was just running away from everything. Deep inside she always wanted to be in this situation, but now that she was facing it, she wanted to run away. She felt like a failure, not even able to face her own feelings, and accept that she deserves them. 

“I…” She blushed more. She still felt this knot in her throat. But no matter what, she kept going forward. She was ready to finish what she started. She didn’t want to run away anymore after all. She took a deep breath and then looked at Sayo. Her eyes were filled with determination, and she was ready to push through her limits to say everything on her heart. “I recovered this feeling I lost long ago. This wonderful feeling I never thought I would feel it again in my life… Sayo-san, I am in love with you.”

“Eh…?” Sayo is genuinely shocked. She had been thinking this could happen, and she actually hoped hard it wouldn’t. But it still did, and she now had to deal with that. However, she didn’t know how to deal with that. On the one hand, she was overjoyed her feelings were mutual, and she wanted to cry from happiness. On the other hand, she felt like she didn’t deserve the brunette to love her. She already thought she didn’t deserve everything she already got those last months. And love was on another whole level, she wasn’t sure she could accept those feelings. “You mean… this kind of love…?”

“Yes… I’m sorry it must be sudden and, I suppose you don’t have the same feeling but… I really wanted you to know. You’re more precious to me than you thought. And I don’t want you to look down on yourself.” She was done. She said everything she wanted to say, and she felt both relieved and pained. She thought she was prepared to be rejected, but she was now scared of that. Even though she knew there wasn’t any other alternative possible, she was going to be rejected by Sayo for sure. That’s what she was thinking. And her whole heart felt like it was getting crushed to ash. She wanted to cry… But she couldn’t leave Sayo alone, not without an answer, and especially not without a smile on the teal-haired woman’s face.

“I…” Sayo wasn’t ready at all. She really needed some time. She didn’t even know what she wanted to answer, her mind was going crazy with everything she was thinking about. Would it be okay for her to be happy with the brunette? Wouldn’t she be a dead weight? Wouldn’t she make her sad? Was she good enough? Did she deserve it? All of those questions were going through her mind, and she couldn’t answer any of them. She needed time, but at the same time, she didn’t want to make the girl wait. It would be horrible from her to make the brunette wait after she seemed to have a lot of trouble to confess. “Wait a moment.” For now, she decided to turn around and breathe heavily to calm herself. What was she going to answer… should she listen to her mind, or her heart. She was stuck, she didn’t know what to do anymore. She almost wanted to run away, the only thing preventing her from doing so were her feelings toward the brunette. Then, she remembered Himari’s words… ‘you should take the opportunity before you regret anything Sayo-san. Listen to your heart, or you will regret it.’ That’s right. Maybe she should listen to her heart. She didn’t want to regret anything, but if she was to regret, she would rather regret answering yes than answering now. With her new determination, she decided to face Tsugumi again, and looked back into her eyes. She didn’t know how long she would stay determined so she didn’t hesitate to answer straightforward. “I… I have the same feeling…”

“…eh? You mean…” Tsugumi’s voice trailed off for a second. This time she was the one shocked. During all the time Sayo took to think about it, Tsugumi was preparing herself to be dumped. To have her feelings rejected. It was a huge surprise for her when Sayo accepted them. She was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t continue talking, and Sayo took this opportunity to answer.

“Yes… I love you too Hazawa-san… I always loved you… I just thought it would be better not to say it… I didn’t want to risk breaking our relationship… But… You’ve brought colours back into my life, and they are more vivid than ever…” Sayo explained herself. And she felt herself relieved from everything. Her fear disappeared, and the weight on her shoulders she kept for months also did. She felt better, and the happiest in her life. She smiled genuinely again. She totally forgot about the live earlier, and she focused all her thoughts on the woman in front of her.

“I… what should I do… I…” Tears started to roll down Tsugumi’s cheeks. She didn’t know how to react anymore. She was overwhelmed by feelings, especially by joy. For a moment, she tried to think about something to say, but she couldn’t find anything. “I never expected to have a positive answer I- I don’t know what to do…” 

“Hazawa-san… No… Tsugumi-san…” Sayo didn’t know how to feel either. The only thing she knew was that her heart was racing in her chest, and that she was also filled with happiness. But knowing her feelings were mutual, she had one thing to ask obviously. “… would you…” It was actually a little embarrassing to ask now that she started saying so, but she could only finish everything. “Would you like to go out with someone like me then…?”

“Yes… Of course…” Tsugumi couldn’t feel happier, she couldn’t stop crying from joy either. It was almost overwhelming, but she was so happy to be with Sayo. So happy that she suddenly wrapped her hands around the teal-haired woman’s waist to pull her into a hug. Sayo was first surprised, then embarrassed. Her face turned red blushing. She really wasn’t used to being hugged, especially not by her new girlfriend in public. However, after some seconds being self-aware of too many things, she just gave up, and hugged her girlfriend back. It was warm, it was comfortable. She enjoyed this feeling, and even closed her eyes. It was as if they were the only one in the world for a moment that felt like eternity. And after a minute or two that felt like hours and seconds at the same time for the two girls, Tsugumi calmed down and pulled away from the hug. She enjoyed the hug, but she was also a little self-aware, and actually wanted to look into Sayo’s eyes while talking.

“Hehe… I’m so happy… I never expected my feelings to be mutual….” Tsugumi moved her hands to gently hold both of Sayo’s hands. She felt warm on her hands, but also inside her chest. It was wonderful, and she felt like she could do anything with Sayo. It was all new feelings for her now. The feeling of having someone reciprocating your feelings. Being truly in love with someone. It was all new, but it wasn’t unpleasant whatsoever.

“It’s a good coincidence, because I totally thought the same up until a few minutes earlier.” Sayo giggled slightly, still smiling genuinely and softly. It was one of the brightest smile she had around the brunette, or even in her whole life. And she was overjoyed she could feel so natural about her feelings, and about showing them. Everything was almost new to her since she met Tsugumi, but today was a whole new level. 

“Hehe, I never thought it could happen for real, I always thought it was only possible in manga~” Tsugumi giggled back happily. She was gazing into Sayo’s green eyes. They were like emeralds. It was so beautiful she felt herself hypnotized by them for a second.

“Manga… How long have you been in love with me…?” Sayo asked genuinely. Now that they were a couple, she really was curious whether the brunette’s feelings were recent, or old like hers. Did Tsugumi go through all she went through those last months too, or was it recently. She wanted some answers, even if she was too shy to ask most of the questions related to.

“Hmm… Hehe it’s a bit embarrassing, but I think I started to fall in love with you since I met you for the first time. But I started to be sure of my feelings around our little date at the shopping mall.” Tsugumi felt almost nostalgic remembering how she felt back then. At this time, she really wanted to repress her feelings. She changed this only today when she confessed everything. And she never thought that one day she would. But she didn’t regret it. She was glad she did.

“O-Oh…” Sayo blushed when Tsugumi explaining this so easily. But she noticed it was like her. So they both struggled a lot with their feelings up to this day. In a certain way, she was a bit happy they went through the same thing more or less together. But if she weren’t so stupid, she would have noticed Tsugumi’s feelings and maybe confess way earlier. It was part of the past now though, and she didn’t want to bring the past. She decided to live in the present, and for the future. But thinking about when she met Tsugumi, she felt so happy she never wanted to forget this day. “Actually… It was the same for me… You just helped me so much when we first met, and I was so happy to meet you again at your café. I didn’t know why at first, but after spending some time with you, I could finally put words on my feelings…”

“Hehe… It’s wonderful how we were feeling the same all the time… I’m glad I confessed…” Tsugumi also felt it amazing how linked they were since the beginning: having the same worries for each other, thinking about the same thing about each other. Her face could only grow red again when she thought about everything she had done related to Sayo. She almost put a photo of the girl in her bedroom, but only didn’t because she was too scared to ask Sayo if it was alright and she didn’t want to do that without her permission.

“I’m glad you did too Tsugumi-san…” Sayo was still a bit embarrassed to call Tsugumi by her first name. And the brunette was also embarrassed to be addressed this way from the woman, who was now her girlfriend. She couldn’t help but blush even more from that, but she was happy. Meanwhile, Sayo was thinking about a little something, but she was scared to ask first. She needed to ponder about the idea for some minutes before she finally asked Tsugumi if it was alright. She would never push her girlfriend to do anything she didn’t want after all. Tsugumi was far too precious for her.“… Do you want to… Finish this thing we started during the party…? You know… the… kiss…” 

“… of course, I’d love to.” Tsugumi flushed heavily thinking about what happened at the party. She really wanted to be kissed this time, but not as strongly as now. With her cheeks still warm red, she slowly leaned closer to Sayo, still looking into the woman’s eyes all the time.

Sayo leaned closer to Tsugu as well, her eyes half-closed to look into Tsugumi’s eyes. She could feel her heart almost exploding already. While trying to bear this, she kept moving closer, until finally, their lips met each other. The kiss was chaste and soft. Sayo felt herself melting against Tsugumi’s lips. The warm and delicate sensation of her girlfriend’s lips were wonderful. She could almost think she was in heaven, or that it was just a dream. Everything overwhelmed her, she had so many things to accept in this last hour. But she regretted nothing, and kept kissing while pouring all her love she stacked more than half a year onto Tsugumi. She wanted to give the brunette everything. She wanted to make her girlfriend feel special to her, because she was someone special.

Tsugumi was also overwhelmed. It was her first kiss too. She always loved the kisses in mangas, and always thought it would be wonderful. But right now, it’s even better than wonderful. Perfect isn’t even strong enough. She does her best not to cry from happiness again as she presses her lips more against Sayo. She wanted to taste her girlfriend’s lips for eternity. She wants to stay like that for as long as possible. Nobody else except Sayo and her, kissing. It was like a dream. Dating Sayo is already a dream, maybe it could turn even better. But for now, instead of dreaming, she focused on the present, and on Sayo’s lips. At this point, her eyes were already closed to enjoy fully the warmth from Sayo’s. The kiss only lasted less than a minute, but it felt like mere seconds only. So when they parted from each other to catch their breath, both felt not satisfied enough.

“It’s… wonderful…” Tsugumi said first, still blushing heavily. She raised her right hand to her lips, trailing her index on them as she could still feel Sayo’s lips. She would never forget this feeling in her life. 

“Y-Yes…” Sayo actually looked away as she tried to hide her cheeks heating even more. It was embarrassing to let anyone see her face like this, especially in public. At least, nobody seemed to stop looking at them, it was a good thing. But she really enjoyed the kiss… her heart still racing was one proof, with her cheeks the second proof of that. But now, it was an awkward silent between those two, and Sayo didn’t even know what to say, still trying to recover her composure after everything that happened.

Tsugumi tried to think about something to say as well, until she remembered about Himari. That’s right, before rushing for Sayo, she asked the pinkette to take care of her stuff and bring everything to the café. She felt bad for leaving that to Himari suddenly. She should go back there now.

“Ah, I left all my stuff to Himari-chan… We should go back to the café. Would you… like to come with me…?” Tsugumi asked shyly, hoping it would be a positive answer, but she didn’t want to push Sayo either.

“Alright, let’s go then.” Sayo didn’t want to leave Tsugumi’s side this soon so it was a great opportunity. She didn’t hesitate to accept, at least it would change the mood a little and help her recover from everything.

With that, Sayo, followed by Tsugumi, finally started to walk back to the café. Tsugumi walked faster to catch up with her girlfriend, and walk side by side with her. It was silent, and she didn’t know what to say or what to do. But she wanted something… Tsugumi hesitated a lot, moving her hand toward Sayo’s, but moving it away soon after. She did that a few times before she finally decided to take the lead this time, and hold Sayo’s hand as they were walking. Sayo was surprised for a second, but didn’t mind at all. Both of them flushed from that, but it was still comfortable, and wonderful. The simple hand holding slowly turned into the two girls intertwining their fingers, keeping their hand very warm together as they walked down the street.

A new life was starting for Tsugumi and Sayo, and they both hoped it would keep going for as long as possible. 


	9. Congratulations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Few months later, Sayo is going to end her first year at her university!

(if you want to skip the spicy moment, click here)

BIP BIP BIP

Sayo groaned when she was woken up by the sound of her alarm clock. No matter how many time she was awoken by this alarm, she never got used to it. Her high school self who could wake up early entirely disappeared. Not that she minded now. Because, when she was going to open her eyes, she would be greeted by an angel. She could already feel her warmth next to her. The same person turned the alarm clock off, and started to talk. The voice was so soft she could almost fall back asleep hearing it. But Sayo stayed strong.

“Sayo…” 

“Hmm…” Sayo was still a bit groggy, but she managed to open her eyes. Lying next to her, Tsugumi in her pyjamas. Although Tsugumi’s pyjamas was simple, she still looked so beautiful for the teal-haired girl. And she couldn’t help but lean closer to steal a kiss from Tsugumi’s lips. 

“Good morning Tsugumi…” She answered after the kiss. After four months, they weren’t blushing after each kiss, but it was still as wonderful as the first one. That’s why she didn’t hesitate to kiss Tsugumi again, and again… each kiss longer than the previous one. She loved Tsugumi, she wanted to stay with her forever. And she also wanted to do a lot of things with the brunette. It’s been four months since they started dating. A lot of things happened, but it was four months of pure happiness for Sayo, and Tsugumi. Sayo couldn’t be happier than that. They decided last month to live together at Tsugumi’s place. It was the best thing to do financially for Sayo, and also romantically. She got to wake up every day with the face of a goddess lying just next to her. What more could she ask in her life.

“Sayo… you’re going to-” Tsugumi had to pause with another kiss from Sayo. She didn’t mind them, but she was worried her girlfriend would be late for school. “-be late for school you know?”

“… I will skip. I want you now…” Sayo didn’t hesitate. Yes, over those four months, she also learnt to be bold with her feelings and needs. She knew Tsugumi wasn’t the type of girl to let things go when she didn’t like it. So she hesitated less, she trusted her girlfriend to say no when needed. It didn’t stop her from asking though. She cared about Tsugumi with all her heart. “Is it alright to do it again?”

“Sure…~” Tsugumi whispered into Sayo’s ear. She was sure her girlfriend would react to that. And she noticed Sayo shivering to that. She then leant even closer, closing the gap between her lips and Sayo’s earlobe, and nibbled it. It was kind, and quick, but it definitely made the teal-haired girl react with an almost moan escaping her lips. 

Sayo’s body reacted to Tsugumi’s move. Besides the shiver running down her whole body, she also felt her face flustering, and her chest tightening. It felt good. She loved this feeling, and she wanted more. She never knew how to describe it well, but her whole body was becoming warmer each time her chest was tightening like this. Last time, Tsugumi was the one leading, but today she was determined to do it.. With this in mind, she shifted from her lying position to straddle her girlfriend, before resuming kissing. This time, it wasn’t a chaste kiss. She kissed the brunette deeply and passionately, trapping the girl’s soft lips against hers, and sometimes between when she decided to nibble one lip or nibble it. It was soft and warm, and, of course, filled with love, but also definitely more aggressive than before.

Tsugumi was already reacting to this. Sayo really was wonderful, and she never missed the opportunity to make her heart race. Her whole body grew warmer to the tingling and light pain when her lips were nibbled. The rough kiss filled with love she could feel also made her breath slightly heavier. However, she wasn’t the type of girl to let her girlfriend do everything. As soon as she felt Sayo parting her lips, she didn’t hesitate to slide her tongue inside the woman’s mouth to deepen the kiss even more. With this position, she couldn’t do as much as Sayo, but she wouldn’t lose.

Sayo was surprised by Tsugumi’s sudden bold move, and let out a small gasp of pleasure. But she quickly recovered from it. She herself started to play with the brunette’s tongue, dancing with it using her own tongue. Their saliva mixed together, but none of them minded that, nor the noises they were making. Both of their bodies grew warmer with each passing second. Sayo’s need was also increasing, but she didn’t want to do it too quickly. She wanted to make Tsugumi enjoy this as much as possible, and mayhap teasing her too at the same time. She found her girlfriend quite alluring when she was teased. She then decided to move Tsugumi’s hands above her head to pin them against the bed. She only needed one hand to do that, and so her other hand was free to move on under Tsugumi’s clothes, making very slow movement on her girlfriend’s side for the moment.

Tsugumi felt her chest tightening even more. Her whole body was responding to Sayo’s touch. She was really weak to her girlfriend, she couldn’t not react. With her whole body like this already, she also let out a moan in her girlfriend’s mouth. She was slowly going crazy just by being lightly touched. And it already started to be hard to stay concentrate and lead the kiss. Fortunately, Sayo broke the kiss, and so the brunette could catch her breath. But the hand didn’t stop, she felt it slide on her stomach now, going near her sensitive place without reaching them. It was almost painful how slow and teasingly it was.

“S-Sayo…” She tried to ask for more. Tsugumi’s face was already showing how much the teal-haired girl had effect on her. She really couldn’t resist Sayo. Her whole body was going crazy. It felt like it was burning… in a good way. “… more…~ please~”

“You sure didn’t last long,  kitten ~” Sayo actually enjoyed the view a lot. But she wasn’t about to let her girlfriend like this after she asked like this. “You’re a good girl for asking this nicely…” She then leaned closer to her girlfriend’s ear, and this time she was the one to whisper into Tsugumi’s ear, making the girl shiver from pleasure at those words. “And good girls get rewarded~”

. . .

Sayo was sitting on the edge of the bed, putting back on the top of her pyjamas that was removed during the action. Her cheeks were still red blushing, but at least she recovered her breath. As she finished putting her top on, she looked back at Tsugumi, smiling happily. She was overjoyed to be with her girlfriend every day. And she got to see a lot of things those last thirty minutes. Now, she tried to get to her usual conversation now that they were done playing and chatting about those things.

“Do you have something planned today?” Sayo asked, wondering if she could help Tsugumi by doing something. She was now used to asking her girlfriend this question every day before leaving so that she could do something for Tsugumi.

“Hmmm, not that I recall. As usual, the café. Oh but, I have some grocery shopping to do.” Tsugumi said after thinking about her schedule for the day. There were some days when she was really busy, but today she didn’t have much to do. She was always grateful of Sayo helping her all the time with the café and everything else. Since they started their band, the café seemed to be more popular than before, so it started to be harder to manage everything by herself. She didn’t mind having more customers, she was happy to see their smile when they left the place, but sometimes it was a bit overwhelming for her alone. That’s why she was glad Sayo helped her whenever she could. At first she felt bad for asking for Sayo’s help, but after being told numerous times it was fine, she stopped feeling bad.

“I will do it on my way back then.” Sayo leaned closer to Tsugumi a last time, pressing her lips against her girlfriend’s. She stayed like this for only a few seconds, but it was wonderful, like every kiss. After that, she stood up and stretched herself again. She had to get ready for school or she would really be late to her important class.

“You don’t have to!” Tsugumi blushed from the kiss — she still felt like this every time it was a surprise kiss — but she didn’t want to bother Sayo with more work. Grocery shopping was something even her could do without being bothered. 

“Yes but I want to. I don’t have anything else to do after all, it’s my last day of school too so no more homework to prepare.” Sayo explained as she entered the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She wouldn’t take no as an answer from Tsugumi. She knew her girlfriend had a tendency to do as much as possible, so that’s why sometimes she had to be slightly forceful so that Tsugumi wouldn’t overwork herself. She was always making sure she wasn’t making the brunette uncomfortable with this though, she didn’t want to hurt her girlfriend’s feelings at all.

“Oh, already the last day?” Tsugumi totally forgot about the school. For someone who was really happy to see the teal-haired woman going back to school since the beginning, she felt a little bad that she forgot about the last day of school. She started to think about something she could do to celebrate that. It wasn’t the end of Sayo’s schooling, but it was still one year. She had to celebrate that, especially after what Sayo went through.

“Yes, finally…” Sayo sounded a bit exhausted through the bathroom door, but she was smiling behind. At first, she had trouble to go to school, but she still enjoyed attending it since the beginning. She had trouble to be used to everything, but she made friends. And she was studying something she always wanted to do since she started the guitar. She couldn’t be happier in her studies.

“Hehe I see… good luck on your last day!!” Tsugumi suddenly had an idea. She would need to text everyone to make it happen, but she was sure it could be possible. She really wanted to do it after all.

Sayo took a shower, and prepared herself after it. She wanted to stay under the water longer, but she would be late for school if she did, so she tried not to waste any time to get ready. When she was done, she walked out of the room, dressed with her favourite dress she bought with Tsugumi long ago now.

Meanwhile, Tsugumi prepared Sayo’s breakfast, and ate hers. It was her routine now, when Sayo was getting ready for school, she prepared their breakfast. According to her girlfriend, she was making the best breakfast in the world. Getting all this gratitude from the teal-haired woman made her want to cook breakfast every day. It never bothered her, and she actually more or less started to make the woman’s breakfast even before they started dating, so it wasn’t really different. The only thing that changed was the amount of love and details she could put into it. Before, it was only a coffee and a cookie, now, she could do anything.

“Alright, I will prepare the café to open~ since we took too much time in bed.” Tsugumi did her best not to blush remembering what they did earlier. She even had to be careful with what she would wear so that her customers wouldn’t notice those things. “Good luck with your last day honey!”

“Thank you Tsugumi, good luck with the café too. I will help when I’m back.” Sayo said, and smiled warmly at her girlfriend as she was about to leave. She wanted to stand up to give her a goodbye kiss, but she was already busy enough with the delicious breakfast her girlfriend made, and she didn’t want to let some leftover from it, or be late to school. 

“Hehe thank you~ I’m off~” With that, Tsugumi left the house.

“Have a good day.” Sayo said just before the door was closed. She hoped the brunette heard her, but she was sure she did. Now alone, she ate her breakfast, and rushed herself to get ready for school. Tsugumi was working so hard, she could only do her best as well. When her bag was ready, she put her coat on, and left the house, locking the door behind her. She then picked one cigarette from her pocket, and lighted it up before walking to school.

* * *

Sayo finally finished school. Her last day was finally done for this year, it was a long way from the beginning to now… She went through so much, but she is finally happy. She made up with her twin sister Hina, picked up the guitar again, made new friends… and a wonderful girlfriend. Girlfriend that she was currently helping by buying some things at the grocery shop for them. It was something she was now used to it so she didn’t mind. However, on her way back home, after she texted Tsugumi telling her she was on her way back home, she received an answer soon after.

> I’m sorry Sayo-san, I forgot to tell you I need some butter too. Could you buy it?

> Alright, I will.

After answering Tsugumi, Sayo turned around and walked back to the convenience store. If it was only for herself, she would have felt bad going back there, and would have mostly ignored that and went back home… But for Tsugumi, she didn’t mind. Just seeing her smile when she brings everything back home was enough to push her to do anything. She could do anything for Tsugumi’s smile.

And just thinking about that, she didn’t even notice she almost arrived back home again. Time seemed like it was disappearing in her hand each time she was thinking of her girlfriend… But she didn’t mind, she was always so overjoyed having Tsugumi’s smile in her mind.

The lights at the café still seemed on, maybe Tsugumi was still inside. Instead of going through the door for their place, she decided to pass through the café, which also has a door to their place. She opened the door and stepped in…

“Tsugumi, I’m ba-”

“Congratulations!” People said at her, with confetti falling on her. For a second, Sayo was so surprised she couldn’t say anything, and just scanned her surroundings. The room didn’t look different from usual, apart from the people gathered. Inside the room, there was, of course, Tsugumi, but also Moca, Himari, Ako, Rinko, Hina, Lisa and even Yukina. She didn’t know why everyone was here… Was there really something to celebrate? Did she do something? She can’t remember…

“… What’s wrong everyone?” Sayo finally asked, after she regained her composure, and removed some confetti from her hair.

“It’s a celebration party for you Sayo, because you finished one year at school~” Tsugumi was the first to answer Sayo, and was grinning. She was proud of her idea, she just hoped Sayo would like it now…

“Man, Sayo sure is getting older and doing better, I can’t think it’s the same Sayo that used to come to my bar almost crying while drinking~” Lisa teased the blue-haired girl with a smirk on her face. And of course, Sayo blushed a little.

“Imai-san!” Sayo tried to tell the girl off, before she sighed… and smiled. It’s true that she went through so much this last year and, even though she didn’t think she deserved a whole party for that, she was happy Tsugumi prepared this… “… thank you everyone.”

“Sayo-san~ a speech~” Moca said, smirking. She just wanted to tease Sayo a little, knowing she’s a thing with Tsugumi. But she promised herself she wouldn’t tease them too much anymore, so she didn’t say more.

“A speech?!” Sayo blushed slightly just from the idea of speaking in front of everyone… But, thinking more about it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea actually. She could thank everyone right now for everything they did for her. With that in her mind, she decided to change her mind. “Actually, I will.”

“Are you sure Sayo?” Tsugumi asked, a bit worried about her girlfriend. She didn’t want Sayo to push herself to do what Moca asked after all. But the smile Sayo flashed at her answered her question, and Tsugumi smiled back.

Sayo walked further in the room before facing everyone… She accepted the speech, but didn’t really know how to start it… “Well… I’d like to thank everyone here for helping me being the person I am now. As Imai-san said, I was pathetic those last 5 years before this one… And then, I met Tsugumi. She was the one opening my eyes on everything, especially on myself. I went back to school thanks to her… And then, I met incredible friends. Shirokane-san and Udagawa-san. At first, I thought they were a little weird, especially Udagawa-san. But honestly, they are precious friends to me. As well as Uehara-san and Aoba-san here… And for Hina… I apologize for avoiding you all this time, I hope you can forgive me one day… But I also want to thank you for making me play the guitar again. Thank you Hina. And thank you Tsugumi for being here with me… now as a wonderful girlfriend. This last year has been the most wonderful year I ever had, and it’s all thanks to you.” Sayo, her cheeks slightly red blushing after all those confessions, was still smiling brightly while staring at Tsugumi.

Tsugumi at the same time was blushing even more. She wasn’t expecting that many compliments in public. She could feel Moca’s smirk without even looking at her. “Sayo…”

“Oh yes, I also forgot something.” Sayo added before anyone could speak, and pulled Tsugumi into a passionate kiss. She could hear everyone expressing their surprise with the ‘ooh’, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to show her love to Tsugumi once more… And she was happy the brunette kissed her back. Right now, even if Moca was about to tease her, even if Hina was about to ask her so many questions, she didn’t mind anything. She was filled with joy with Tsugumi, and she hoped it would continue like this forever… With all her friends too…

“I love you Tsugumi.”


End file.
